After the Fall
by thegirlsinthefirehouse
Summary: What if Abby hadn't been saved?
1. Into the Deep

The void was brighter than she thought it would be. There were stories from people in every culture of being pulled towards the light. She just hadn't expected it to be green _and_ white. It wasn't heavenly. It wasn't even hellish. It just was. Abby had thought that someday she would get to see the other side. But not like this. She hadn't even died. She was slowly falling to her doom in the giant ghost hand of Rowan North.

There had to be irony somewhere that the one thing that had fascinated her all her life was now her end. Hadn't it been Macbeth who had been fascinated by his father's ghost that had finally been his undoing? The void just seemed to suck everything away from her. All she could do was to see where she had been. The portal was closing and she couldn't reach it.

She just wanted to close her eyes and wish it all away.

Instead, she stared. It wasn't like there was anything else she could do. Rowan's grip was unrelenting and slightly painful. He was probably basking in the glory that he had managed to take one of the Ghostbusters down with him.

Abby wasn't sure how much longer her oxygen would last. Surely this plane did not have atmospheric makeup as Earth. Or did it? Who could she even ask? It wasn't like anyone who had ever entered this plane ever came back.

Okay, now she knew she was losing it. That's what ghosts _were_. Rowan had killed himself and came back to start an apocalypse. Erin's neighbor had come back and haunted her for over a year.

Erin...

She had just gotten her back. Dammit.

If her life was going to end, she wished the universe would go ahead and get it over with. She was tired of falling. She was tired of being held.

It was then she heard it. The sickening splash. She looked down.

White... ectoplasm? Interesting.

It was then she noticed Rowan was dissolving.

 _Huh._

She had never expected that.

But it hadn't loosened his grip any, and his hand was pulling her under. Guess she was going to know what it was like to be fully submerged in the stuff. She took a deep breath and gripped her shoulders. The Ghostbusters logo patch beneath her fingers made her want to cry. Abby had always been strong, very strong. Emotions never got in her way of what she was supposed to do. She had learned it quite hard from her own mother, who had been a scientist just like her. But it was the love she had felt again from her best friend coming back in her life, the love and bond she had shared with Holtzmann, and the newness of her friendship with Patty made her heart ache. She would never get to see them again. To never get to see Holtz's brilliant mind crank out another amazing thing using spare parts and duct tape like she had at Higgins. To see Erin break free from her acadamia shell. Watching Patty discover new things that fascinated her as she read and learned about the world.

Family. They were a _family_.

She went under. Ectoplasm in its natural state... was fascinating. It felt like water and jello at the same time. She sort of wondered if this was what it was like to be in amniotic fluid like a growing fetus. The universe had it's own sort of rebirth? Now that would make for an interesting scientific essay spinning on the idea of reincarnation. It didn't take long however till Abby was running out of air, as her lungs were starting to burn from the carbon dioxide. Death by suffocation in ectoplasm. If she EVER got to see Erin again, she was blaming her for her death. This had to be some sort of cosmic joke on her behalf.

Her reflexes made her take a deep breath, which filled her lungs with the substance.

Abby closed her eyes, feeling the world get narrower and narrower. She was dying, and her world felt concentrated and very small, almost coming to a point. The fact that she could still feel the fabric on her fingertips from her jumpsuit was the only peace she felt as she drifted not only physically, but mentally.


	2. Lonely Miracle

The next thing she knew, she was falling.

She took a deep breath of air, gasping as nitrogen & oxygen filled her lungs to capacity. She was never going to complain about lack of air ever again, no matter how much they had to walk and run on a call. She tried to open her eyes, but she saw nothing but dark.

But she could breathe. That had to be something.

And she was still falling.

 _But falling where?_

She decided at this point she was just going to go with it. The universe had already played its hand. She was headed somewhere.

And the somewhere came at her _very fast_. She let out a yell when she felt gravity take even more of a hold as she sped up and twisted around on her side. The next thing she knew was she was landing quite hard on top of the hood of a car. She was quite certain she had bent the damn thing and probably broke the glass in the windshield and side windows.

 _Shit. That hurt._

Padding. They definitely needed padding on the proton packs. Everything about her ached. And how the hell did she land on a _car_? Had she fallen back in her own dimension? Had somehow she had been pulled back home?

Her heart leapt at the idea, but the scientific part of her brain told her that was more than likely not possible. You moved sideways, not up and down like a yo-yo.

 _Then was this an alternate dimension?_

At the moment, she really didn't care. She needed to get up, because ow. And whoever owned the car would probably be pretty pissed to find a strange person lying on the now bent hood. She tried to move, but it didn't work further than turning over on her back. The proton pack was too heavy and she now knew how a turtle felt when it was turned over on its shell. She also knew she was woozy. She probably had a head injury from hitting the car. But the blue sky above her was nice. It kind of reminded her of looking up in New York every day.

"What the FUCK?" said a voice loudly. _And here it comes_ , thought Abby as she tried to move her arms and failed, only able to turn on her uninjured side with a soft groan. She heard scrambling of bodies as they got nearer to the vehicle. She really wanted to say something, anything. But the swimming feeling in her brain was starting to take over and besides, how the _hell_ was she supposed to explain how she got there?

" _Hi, I think I just fell out of the ghost plane after being completely submerged in ectoplasm. I'm sorry about your car, but it broke my fall..._ "

Abby was glad when her vision began to cloud and she passed out. But in the process, she missed seeing somewhat familiar uniforms to her own.

"Uh, Ray? Why is there a _girl_ laying on top of the car?" said Venkman as all four Ghostbusters surrounded the hood of the vehicle.

"She's a woman. And still alive," said Egon, leaning over Abby. "Late 30's to early 40's. She seems to have fallen from... somewhere." He looked up to the sky. "Pretty hard fall too. I'd say at least 30 to 40 feet."

"Great," said Winston. "We just solved one mystery and get handed another."

"She's a Ghostbuster," said Ray, looking surprised as he noticed the patch on her arm. He moved around the car and looked at the equipment on her back. "I think she's wearing a proton pack Egon."

"Is nobody going to talk about the fact that she's crushed the car?" Peter grumbled.

"I don't think at the moment that it's the biggest problem," said Egon. He gestured at the PKE meter in his hand, which was beeping quickly in intensity.

"Either she's a ghost, or she's become a PKE magnet."

"She's injured," said Winston. He pointed out some cuts and bruises to her face and hands, and noted her left wrist was at a very odd angle. "Probably from the fall, wherever she fell from."

"I'd imagine she has a concussion and probably some broken ribs at the very least," said Egon. "Let's just hope that there is no damage to the proton pack she's wearing or we all could be in worse trouble."

"Let's just call an ambulance," said Venkman. "Oh wait, we already-"

"Pete," said Ray, moving to stand in front of his long time friend. "There is a woman in a Ghostbusters uniform that is surging with more PKE energy that should be humanly possible lying on OUR vehicle not _that_ long after we defeated Shandor in the ghost dimension? Doesn't that strike as you as being a little bit _odd_?"

"Well, considering the amount of costumes that were once sold based on ours, she might have just gotten drunk and smashed up our car. You know the fandom base, they-"

"Uh... Ray..." began Egon. He had a wallet in his hand.

"Found this in a side pocket. Driver's License says it was renewed in March of 2015."

"Shit," said Ray, coming back over to Egon's side.

"So not only possibly from an alternate timeline, but one that's going at an accelerated rate compared to ours?"

"I would say that is a fair assumption, yes."

"The mayor's going to love getting an invoice for a new vehicle," said Venkman.

"He'll get over it," said Ray. "We've got work to do." He paused and looked around.

"Where is the Rookie anyways?" They turned and noticed he was at a payphone nearby and making a phone call. He gave them a thumbs up while still holding a smoking trap. They could hear sirens in the distance.


	3. Dream On

Abby didn't know what woke her up, the pounding headache or the sound of voices nearby. She really hoped Holtzmann wasn't aggravating Erin again. How did she get in so much _pain_? Falling asleep at one of the tables at the Chinese place shouldn't have caused her this much anguish. She started to move, but a hand gently pushed her back down.

"Ms. Yates, I need to ask you to stay still. We're wrapping your wrist in plaster for the breaks you've sustained from the fall. You've been a little in and out of conscious-"

The voice sounded male. Odd. It wasn't Kevin. The thought of Kevin tending to her injuries after a bust was a little frightening. She decided she was not going to worry about it as sleep was overwhelming her senses. She was probably dreaming anyways. Although why she was dreaming about being injured and Kevin in the same dream was way beyond her train of thought at the moment as she drifted back off.

 _And why was he calling her Ms. Yates?_

* * *

After one of the nurses came and told Egon and Peter that they wanted to keep an eye on Abby for a couple of more hours because she hadn't woken up fully, they both had been concerned. The nurse told them it was probably nothing, just her body being exhausted from dealing with her injuries. Which wasn't surprising considering both the physical and mental ones. They hadn't exactly told the hospital staff that more than likely their ER patient had died or nearly died today.

Egon sighed softly as he watched the PKE meter climb. Her levels were still rising. Usually he could understand why everything happened as they did, but this was perplexing him just a bit. A human should not have these sorts of levels.

"Still sleeping?" said Ray, coming back into the room. Egon looked up and nodded.

"I expect the transfer between realities has something to do with the exhaustion. Her injuries are not that major. And the shock of the crash landing could possibly be playing a role."

"I'd imagine dying in one universe and coming back to life in another somehow would be a little jilting to one's system."

"She's not dead Ray."

"Then how the hell-"

"I expect it's something we may have to ask once she wakes up." Ray sighed.

"This is entirely too much of a coincidence. A fellow Ghostbuster?"

"The pack's design is interesting," said Egon. "Wild even. The science is similar to ours, but definitely much more... modern. It's the only word I could come up with to describe it."

"The great Egon Spengler without words? I can't believe it," said Ray.

"It's on par with our basic packs," said Egon. "Perhaps a little more fine-tuned. But our experimental one the Rookie is testing is much more advanced." He frowned, looking over to Abby.

"It makes me wonder if they were just starting out. Some of the trappings were held together with duct tape."

"Newly minted Ghostbusters?" asked Stantz.

"In New York, no less."

"How did you know that? Never mind, the driver's license," said Ray.

"Parallel universes do mirror each other," said Egon. "If that's what is going on here."

"Her levels still rising?"

Egon picked up the PKE meter.

"Steadily."

"I'll get you a snack while we wait," said Ray.

"Cheez-its and a Coke?"

"I think I need some whiskey with one of those later," Ray said with a sigh as he headed out of the room.

"I'm sure Peter would agree with you after talking to the police all afternoon," said Egon, writing down the latest figures on the notebook beside him.


	4. Found Out About You

Abby woke back up again, this time feeling a little bit better than she had when she had crashed landed on the car. She opened her eyes, confused. She was in a hospital room? And definitely in a hospital bed. The head was raised up to where she was nearly in a sitting position and there was white everywhere. She groaned.

"I see the painkillers have finally kicked in," said a voice. "Welcome back to reality, sunshine. Although reality is probably a term you're still trying to wrap your head around."

Abby tried to move to sit up, all ready to refute at whoever was speaking to her. But her death glare was shortened out by the fact that she couldn't bend in the middle. It shortened her breath way too much for her liking.

"Broken ribs," said another voice. "I would advise not moving like such. And putting your hands down to steady yourself is not going to work as well. Your left wrist has three fractures."

Abby looked down and saw the cast going up her arm.

"Thanks for the warning." She noticed her glasses sitting on the table beside the bed. She reached for them with her uninjured hand, putting them on.

"You took a pretty nasty fall."

"Happens when you fall out of... somewhere," said Abby. She finally managed to take one shaky deep breath. She didn't even know who she was speaking to, much less if she could trust them with any sort of insanity that would probably be coming out of her mouth about ghosts and portals. She looked up to where the voices had come from.

Now she knew she was dreaming or had died in the ectoplasm.

Ghostbusters. She stared at the logo on their uniforms. The one in the glasses had the tiniest of smirks.

 _Male Ghostbusters? Something seemed so wrong about that._

"I-" began Abby.

"You're lucky you broke nothing serious," said one of the men.

"Well, other than our car," said the other.

"You're Ghostbusters?" said Abby, feeling rather confused. Now she knew the universe was really trying to play tricks on her.

"And we know you are one too, or were one where you're from."

"Your pack was not damaged too badly," said the man in the glasses. "We can repair what we can."

"Where- where am I?" said Abby.

"In an alternate dimension to your own we think," said the other with a grimace. "We're not exactly clear on that subject. But in our universe, this is New York, in the state of New York. The year is 1991." He laughed. "Must be some really good painkillers if you're not freaking out."

Abby shrugged, half groggy to reality. "When you're already prepared for death, the fact that one is still living is usually a upswing to the situation, even if I did fall back into the 90's."

"You were prepared for death?" asked the bespectacled man. Abby closed her eyes. Rowan was not the best of memories.

"A particularly nasty human turned ghost tried to cause a cataclysm by charging the ley lines and creating a vortex in the middle of Manhattan. He then made himself big enough to crush most of the city underfoot. We managed to force him into the open portal, but he took me with him."

"Damn, had to be a class seven," whistled one of the men.

"So I landed on top of your car?" asked Abby. The irony of it, she had to admit, was slightly amusing. From one team to another. What _were_ the odds?

"Right on top of the hood of the Ecto-1," said one of the men. "By the way, my name is Egon Spengler and this is Ray Stantz. Knowing our names might help ease yourself into the present situation."

"We'd really like to ask you some questions, run a few tests," said Ray. "This is the first time that we're aware of that an actual human being has traversed across the space between dimensions. Usually it's like quick jaunt between wormholes that happens in the blink of an eye for us, but you actually got see it."

"Felt like hours," said Abby, yawning.

"Probably less than five seconds," said Egon. "I'm sure time just slowed down considerably for you since you feared your demise."

"Or maybe it did slow down," said Ray, looking surprised as he thought. "There could be a temporal difference between our universes. It could be that time DID slow down."

Normally, this would have been Abby and Erin going into weird science-y conversations at a high rate of speed and Patty and Kevin trying to catch up. But with how she was feeling, she could understand how Patty felt.

Hell, how Kevin even felt. She was fairly certain her brain was quite addled at this point. It must really be if she was comparing herself to Kevin's level of understanding.

"I think we might have broke her," said Egon, looking at Abby.

"No, I-" she said. "I just can't think right now. I sort of lost... everything."

Egon and Ray glanced at each other.

"My friends, my world, my home... just gone," said Abby. "All because that stupid asshole Rowan opened a portal and just had to drag me down with him." She sighed, wincing as she tried to hold her in feelings. This was not happening right now.

"Sorry, you didn't need to hear all of that."

"You're not alone," said Ray. "No matter what may have happened, you're still one of us. I don't know what your world is like, but if you've chosen to chase ghosts and do something about the paranormal, then you'll always be one of us sister."

"We take care of our own," said Egon. "Which is why you'll be going back with us to Ghostbusters Headquarters after we get you out of here."

"Wha-why?" asked Abby.

"The Ghostbusters have a good pull with the staff here since we keep them ghost free," said Ray. "So usually when we come in with injuries, they treat us low key and we can get out of here as quick as we can."

"I'll go check with the doctor," said Egon. "See if we can go yet."

Abby was a little unsure if she wanted to go with them. But it was better than staying in a hospital. She was alive at least. That meant she had the ability to get back home if she could figure out a way, and they would be a huge asset. She briefly wondered how the others were doing. She really hoped that Patty wasn't blaming herself. If she had kept going instead of stopping when she had pushed her newest friend out of the way, then maybe they all wouldn't be in this situation. She wondered if Holtz was alright. They didn't get much of a chance to talk after Rowan had possessed her, and she was pretty sure they had glossed over most of the details. Holtz had drunk a lot of water due to a "scratchy" throat and Patty seemed to be eyeing her a great deal, like Abby was going to jump her or something.

She was going to sit the both of them down and make them tell her what happened once she got back. The tightness in the back of her own throat made her shake her head to keep the tears from falling. Some of it was from the pain that she might never see them again, but a lot of it was from the relief that she wasn't dead. When her head had finally gone under the ectoplasm, she had fully expected to die right then and there. While dying at 108 was not a bad thing in her opinion, she hadn't thought she'd go 70 years too soon.

At least falling on the hood of a car and breaking things wasn't terrible. Ribs took six weeks to heal, wrists was about the same. And it wasn't like she was going anywhere in the near future. The woozy feeling however was worrying her.

"Did I have a concussion?" she said to Ray.

"The doctor who treated you said it wasn't serious," he responded. "You did get extremely lucky."

"Your car broke my fall," she said.

"Wouldn't be the first time she's been fixed."

Abby wondered about that. The thought of a well established Ghostbusters team did give her a bit of a thrill. They had seen and done things. She and the others had barely even strung together what they had.

"How many are on your team?"

"At the moment five," said Ray. "Egon, Peter, and I were the founding members. We hired on Winston, and we've been going through new recruits. Sometimes the work is a little bit too hard for them. Yours?"

"Four. Holtzmann, Erin, and Patty."

"All women," said Ray. "Must be some team."

"Particle physicist, nuclear engineer, and Patty holds a doctorate in history."

"You're kidding," said Ray. "All doctors."

"Great ladies," said Abby, smiling a little.

"Still don't know your name," Ray lied. "Officially. I think the EMT did look through your wallet."

"Abby. Abby Yates," she said, clearing her throat. "There's a doctor attached to it, but I'm not feeling it at the moment."

"Physics?"

"How did..."

"Took a shot since you mentioned your fellow physicist first."

"Best friend," said Abby. She didn't know why she was telling Ray this. Guess nearly dying was doing a number on her lips.

"It's good to work with those you trust," said Ray. There was a knock on the room door, and a nurse with a wheelchair came in, along with a doctor.

"We'll be outside," said Ray. He stood up and went to where Egon was waiting.

"Did you find out anything?"

"Nothing yet, but I'd love to met her team of Ghostbusters," said Ray. "All women, all doctors."

"We're going to have to get to talk about the events that occurred on the other side," said Egon.

"I know," said Ray. "But we've got to earn her trust first. Dignity and respect. She's one of us."

"And the most fully corporeal ghost we've ever met," said Egon.

"I thought I was the one who thought she was dead," said Ray. He was really wanting some beers to go with that whiskey.

"I didn't say she was dead," Egon said, feeling the need to clarify himself. "She's perfectly alive."

"Then-?" began Ray.

The door opened and Egon shrugged. The doctor came back out.

"She's doing fine for someone who you say took a 30-40 feet fall onto a parked car. Still banged and bruised up. Those ribs took a beating, so she's going to need to rest. You did a pretty hellish job on your new recruit. That wrist will definitely need to stay still to heal. I don't think she'll be going out with you on calls anytime soon."

"Thank you Doctor Tolan," said Ray. "We'll be sure to send you a Christmas card."

"And I'll send the city a bill," said the Doctor, closing his chart with a small smirk. He walked off.

"Ow! Geez, I'd rather just walk," said a voice from within the room a few minutes later. The nurse came back out with Abby in the wheelchair, looking absolutely miserable. Her jumpsuit top was tied at her waist, a khaki and black striped long sleeved shirt was open, showing off a black tank top underneath. One of the sleeves was pushed up for the cast with the arm in a sling. Abby looked down. She could barely see the brace they had put over her ribs under the tank top. The black boots helped the ensemble almost look like she had stepped out of a Madonna video.

"You guys always complain," tutted the nurse. Abby couldn't help but wonder if Doctor Tolan she had just seen was of any relation to Patty as she was being wheeled down a hallway with Egon and Ray following behind. She was almost relieved to see Ray carrying her pack. At least Holtz wouldn't kill her for losing it.


	5. Here Without You

Abby was glad she had not lived in New York during the 90's. There were so many bumps and potholes and she had grimaced and held her side with every one of them. She was never going to break her ribs again. At least her wrist was encased in a cast.

But at least the hospital pharmacy had filled the pain medication the doctor had prescribed her for a couple of days. She wasn't used to taking any, but right now she hoped it was good and strong.

It was weird, seeing the city through the windows of the cab. So much was different, but so much the same. If it was 1991, then she would have been 12 in this universe. Still four more years before she met Erin. At least it was only two more before the X-Files premiered.

If she even _existed_ in this universe. That could be real possibility. She could have easily been a miscarriage for her mom. She might have died that one time she had gotten potassium poisoning and woke up in intensive care. Or found one of the forgotten wells that had never been filled in around her hometown. Apparently people were quite forgetful about that.

When the cab pulled up in front of a firehouse with a Ghostbusters logo outside, she had gasped slightly under her breath. It was the same firehouse that the real estate agent had brought them to! Her mind boggled for a little bit at the thought. Everything seemed to mirror each other so much. Same, but yet not the same. She and Holtzmann had loved the firehouse. But they hadn't loved the 21,000 a month rent. Erin had even told the lady to burn in hell at the price.

Abby had already pushed open the door to the cab when Egon got out of the front and offered a hand to help her out. She had to remind herself that once upon a time, chivalry was not a dead concept. She accepted it with a thanks. She was still marveling at the place when Ray noticed.

"She's a beaut, ain't she?"

"We almost rented this place," she said. "But 21,000 a month was a little too much for our budget."

"21- 21,000 a month in rent?" he yelped. "Was it encased in gold and silver?"

"No, but it had been newly renovated," said Abby. "And the Tribeca neighborhood was great. A lot of new startup businesses."

"I'm glad I live in 1991 and not 2015," Ray said, shaking his head.

"2016," corrected Abby. She frowned. Something seemed off. _Where did 2015 come from?_

"How did you know-"

"The EMT showed us your license," said Egon. "He thought it was a joke."

"I shouldn't have stuck my wallet in my jumpsuit pocket," sighed Abby. "I thought Holtz was going to let me drive."

"Ray always drives too," said Egon. Ray opened the door to the firehouse and gestured for Abby to step inside.

It definitely was not what she was expecting as she got indoors. Especially the six foot stack of pizza boxes (all unfolded to a flat state and stacked neatly) next to the front door. It looked almost like an art piece. But right in front of her was what had broken her fall. Their Ecto-1's hood was definitely bowed inwards. She winced when she saw it. She hoped there was no damage to the engine or other important things underneath.

"There's the offender!" said a voice. Abby flinched when she heard it. Another man approached the threesome with a redheaded woman, who was wearing very large glasses for her face. She reminded Abby a little bit of the lady who had been at the front desk of the Mercado Hotel.

"See Janine? This is the person we found free loading on the hood of our precious vehicle. We provide a service of breaking one's fall and we found her napping. It just goes to show you-"

"Pete," said Ray. "She's had a hard enough day as it is. Cut her a little slack, would you? Dr. Abby Yates, this is Janine, our secretary and ghost wrangler when necessary. Janine, this is Abby. She's going to be staying with us for a while."

"Pleased to meet you," said Janine. "It'll be nice to have another lady around here. Can't get these boys to clean up after themselves for nothing."

"We'll let the Rookie do that!" said Ray as he headed back towards what looked like an office area.

"Winston sent him home already," said Venkman. "Not much to do."

"The spare room upstairs is clean, Egon," said Janine. "Winston helped me fix it up."

"Thanks Janine. Would you mind taking Abby up and helping her get settled?"

"Sure," said the red headed woman. She nodded towards the stairs. Abby moved to follow her, but noticed something. A red containment unit was sitting not far from the office area, and it held a green ghost that looked very familiar.

"You have a ghost on display?" She put a hand up to the glass and Slimer gave her a ghostly high-five from behind the glass.

"Oh you mean Slimer, our little buddy?" said Venkman. "He's like a member of the family now."

"He's slimed Peter three times," said Egon, eyeing Venkman. "He's come to be a Ghostbusters mascot."

"I think he might have a brother on our side," said Abby. "He stole our Ecto-1 and went for a joyride all over New York."

"Slimer, I didn't know you could drive!" said Peter, pointing a finger at the unit. Slimer slicked at it through the glass. "From now on, you're earning your keep by driving us around."

"Slimer as a chauffeur? Now there's a scary prospect," said Winston as he came down the stairs. "M'am, good to see you up and conscious," he said, nodding to Abby.

"Doctor Winston Zeddmore, meet Doctor Abby Yates."

"Pleasure to meet a fellow Ghostbuster," said Zeddmore, shaking her hand as he got down to the bottom of the stairs.

"Come on Abby," said Janine. "I'm sure after being in the hospital you'd probably like to get some real rest, especially these yahoo's didn't let you even rest IN the hospital." They headed up the stairs and onto the second floor landing before crossing what looked like some sort of den like area with a couch and TV and various other things, including a pool table. On the other end was some sort of mini work area.

"Don't mind Peter. He's a good man." She paused at looked at Abby and how tired she seemed. "They really should have let you stay. They didn't need to pull you up and at 'em so fast."

"I'll be fine," said Abby. "I'm going to have to start figuring out a way back home."

"You from one of the franchises or something?" asked Janine. "I know they've been trying to start other teams, but I hadn't heard anything."

"You might... you might could say that," said Abby. It was still so surprising that the Ghostbusters wasn't a wholly an original idea. But at the same time, it was reassuring. There were actual ghosts here! And people who sought after them!

Franchises. Franchises were definitely an idea for the future.

"This room is on a separate floor from the boys' sleeping quarters," said Janine. "So you might be able to get a little rest. There's a bathroom across the way, next to the arcade machines."

"Is that Q*Bert?" said Abby, looking at one of the video games. "I haven't seen that since I was like, eight."

"Probably," said Janine. "When were you eight?"

"1986?"

Janine peered at her over her glasses. "I'm not going to ask," she said. "Do you need some help?" Abby looked down at her boots.

"I think so, yes."

"I thought as much," smiled the secretary. "Are you left handed?"

"No, I am right handed, but these boots don't make it easy to take them off with one handed." Abby winced she went to open the door to the room they were standing in front of.

"Or neither will broken ribs."

"Oh Ray," said Janine, shaking her head. "I don't think he realizes how much you can actually not do."

"It'll be a little difficult," said Abby. "But I can manage-"

"You'll be doing no such thing," said Janine. "I'm here to help." They entered the room and Abby was surprised at the furnishings. There was a twin bed with what looked like warm, comfy blankets and couple of pillows. There was a bedside table and a lamp, which seemed to be the only light in the room. She was surprised by the leather armchair and small side table.

"The boys don't have much in the way of furniture," said Janine. "I rounded up what I could. I brought the blankets and stuff from home. I wouldn't touch anything they've got here with a ten foot pole."

"Looks about like my studio apartment in Washington Heights," said Abby. She sighed as she sat down on the bed. Now that she was settled, she was getting really tired. The painkillers were starting to wear off.

"I'm guessing you didn't bring anything with you."

"When a person falls through the universes, not much you can bring," said Abby. Janine blinked at her.

"I'll take that as you'll need pretty much everything." The secretary gestured for Abby to sit back on the bed and she started helping her with her boots.

"I like the orange by the way. Good color on the uniforms. I like that better than the plain khaki."

"I'll make sure to tell my team," Abby said, wistful as she thought of Patty. She started to reach down to help Janine, but sharp pains went around her abdomen.

"Ow," she hissed.

"Sit still," chided Janine. "I'm going to chew Egon's head off for this. They should have known better." She helped pull the boots off, then sat down beside Abby.

"Want to work on those clothes next?"

"If it wasn't for the zipper on the suit, I'd say I'd sleep like this."

"I wouldn't exactly call it comfortable. Besides, you need good rest, which you won't get if you're way too uncomfortable in your clothes."

"I'm not sure if I'm even going to sleep," said Abby. "A lot of stuff happened today and I still haven't processed it all."

"So tell me about it," said Janine. "I got a few minutes."


	6. Outside

"So are we all in agreement?" asked Ray. He had lit a cigar and was smoking it as fast as he could. He really needed the tobacco at the moment.

"This is a better place than anywhere else in this city," said Winston. "But Ray, are you really serious about this?"

"I can't even calculate it by the PKE meter anymore," said Egon. "I had to pull out the Giga meter once we got back to the firehouse. It's just radiating off of her and steadily rising."

"And in about two days if this keeps going, she'll have as much psychokinetic energy surrounding her as much as our containment unit can contain," stated Ray. "We saw what happens when that blew. Twice now."

"Well, it sounds like a fun time to be had by all," said Peter. "But really Ray, is there nothing you can do to circumvent it?"

"If we could figure out _why_ it's surrounding her, we could figure out to how to shut it off. Egon have been speculating while we were waiting on the doctor."

"We think it's because of _how_ she got into our universe," said Egon. "Ghosts use and radiate that energy to fuel themselves. And since our friend might have come the same way a ghost would enter our world, it could be that the universe has... mistaken her for a ghost."

"Would that mean at some point...?" began Winston, feeling sick as he said it.

"That she probably died?" said Egon. "More than likely, yes if the theory holds true."

"So if this chick died during her journey here, how the hell is she still alive?" asked Venkman.

"That I'd like to know," said Ray. "Being dead and coming back to life is not something you see every day outside of any religious connotations."

"Oh no, no religion," said Venkman. "We are not having that conversation."

"Is there anyway we could dissipate some of the energy with the proton packs?" asked Winston.

"You want to turn a proton pack on a human?"

"It beats the alternatives."

"We cannot turn a proton pack on a fellow Ghostbuster if we can help it," said Egon. "She needs our help, not our animosity."

"Well said Egon," said Peter. "My brother." Egon just shook his head.

"But in the meantime, she needs to stay here so we can watch her," said Ray. "I don't think she realizes anything is wrong. And we need to keep it that way as much as possible. She's been through a lot, losing her team, losing her friends and family, the universe she's known..."

"She probably feels pretty lost," agreed Winston.

"Do you think you could talk to her Peter?"

"Ray, you know I don't do private therapy sessions anymore."

"Take one for the team, Pete."

"Sigh. Fine."

"Egon and I are going to do our best to come up with a solution. We're hoping that since she's already a bit of camaraderie with us, we can get her to open up about the events that led up to her arriving on top of the hood of our car," Ray stated.

"And run a few tests," Egon added. "But until we get this energy thing sorted out, we really don't need her wandering around the city."

"Well, considering she's pretty much handicapped, I don't think that will be hard," said Janine. She was descending the stairs. "You and Ray are idiots, by the way. She can barely move on her own."

"All the more reason she should stay here," said Ray. "Everything all right Janine?"

"Just peachy doll," said the redhead. "I'm going out to get a few things." She headed over to her desk and picked up her jacket and purse.

"And Ray, no offense, but Peter's probably the worst person to talk to Abby, just saying."

"Janine's probably right," said Egon. "I would imagine feminism has come a lot farther in her world, and we really don't need her slugging him with her good arm."

"Probably," said Ray with a grin. "I'd imagine she's a real fire cracker when things aren't in such a turmoil."

"I say we should call it a night fellas," said Peter. "See how things look in the morning light."

"I could use about 15 hours of sleep," muttered Winston. "It'd been already one heck of a week before all this happened."

"No kiddin'," said Ray. "But at least Shado's gone."

"And the Mayor is back to normal," pointed out Egon.

"We hope," said Peter.

* * *

Abby had dozed off while waiting on Janine to come back. Falling asleep in her jeans was something she was used to, but not being able to lay on her side she was not. Laying on her back felt weird. She was glad however that she could let her arm relax outside of the sling. She hated how cramped it felt in the cast. She hated how she couldn't breathe. She hated how her heart was aching. She hated because she knew the others would blame themselves. She hated it all.

She woke up again when she felt movement in the room.

"Sorry Abby, didn't mean to wake you up," said Janine. "I was just going to leave the stuff for you." She handed her an ice pack. "And I figured your other one had melted by now."

The doctor had told Abby that she'd need to keep ice on her ribs to help with the swelling. Thankfully the brace came with a pouch for it.

"Thanks," she said to Janine, taking it from her. "I'm grateful for your help."

"Don't mention it," said the redhead. "Everyone needs looking after once in awhile. And how often do you get to help someone who's not from your own universe?"

"I guess I am an alien," mused Abby. She laughed softly, knowing Erin would get a kick out of that, wherever she was. She looked out the window and noticed it was snowing.

"Started right after I got out of the shoe store," said Janine. "I hope you don't mind Converse. They had them on sale." Janine opened the box and Abby gasped softly. It was almost like the pair that was sitting under a table in their work space above the Chinese restaurant. She wiped at a tear rolling down her cheek, trying not to be stupidly overemotional.

"They're perfect, actually."


	7. Come Sail Away

The next morning, Egon had a stack of books beside him and reading. _Tobin's Spirit Guide_ was already open in front of him. Ray nodded to him over a cup of coffee as he sat down.

"Long night?" asked Egon.

"Crazy morning," answered Ray. "Mayor is already calling, the press wants interviews. The library wants to know if they can reopen."

"Of course," Egon stated. Ray nodded.

"Abby awake yet?"

"Unknown," said Egon. "Dana's on her way. Janine said something about needing another female for some reason or another."

"Well, Janine does have to work," said Ray. "Hard to help and answer phones."

"I'm sure Abby will appreciate it."

"Should we tell Venkman?" humored Ray, glancing at Egon.

"Maybe after the fact," Egon said, a smile on the corner of his lips. "I sent the Rookie after some stuff I thought I might need."

"I'm sure he'll appreciate a simple task," said Ray. He took a long drink of coffee. "We've already put him through the ringer and he just started working with us."

"Dana," said Egon. He and Ray both stood up to greet their friend.

"Egon, Ray," she said as she gave each of them a hug. "You're looking well for people who just fought a god." She pulled back and started pulling off her long scarf.

"Possible god," said Ray. "How's Oscar?"

"Got him off to school this morning," she said. "The snow and slush was a mess to walk through."

"He looking forward to Christmas?"

"Always," laughed Dana. "He's in love with this new cartoon called Darkwing Duck. I think I'm going to have to find some action figures." She looked around.

"Please tell me Peter isn't here."

"He isn't," said Ray. "He went home to sleep."

Dana was relieved by that.

"So where is your friend? Janine called and said she might need a little help this morning. Which was surprising since I thought this was an all-boys club."

"Not always," said Egon. "We have interviewed a few females for the new positions."

"So is this one of your new recruits?"

"Not exactly," said Ray.

"She's a bit more special than that," said Egon. "She's could potentially be from our future."

"Or not from our universe at all," added Ray.

"How?" asked Dana, looking perplexed.

"Time traveling is not out of question," said Egon. "Given the right circumstances."

"And the other?" asked the cellist.

"The most plausible," answered Ray.

"Well, I'd love to meet her, time traveling or not," said Dana. "Janine said she was in one of the spare rooms?"

Ray nodded. "You might want to knock, they gave her some painkillers to sleep."

Dana nodded and headed upstairs. She was surprised when someone answered after she knocked. She entered the room and found a woman around her age sitting on the bed in black and white checkered pajama pants and a black tank top looking out the window. She was holding something square in her hand like it was a lifeline. The other hand was in a sling across her chest. She could see a brace across her midsection.

"Are you Abby?" she said. "I'm Dana Barrett. I guess you could say I'm a friend to the Ghostbusters. Janine's working downstairs, so she asked me to come see if you needed anything."

"Guess she's scared to send one of the boys huh?"

"I think she thought you might like help with a shower better."

"Oh god yes. And coffee. Lots of coffee."

"I think that can be arranged," said Dana with a laugh. She grimaced as she looked over Abby.

"That must have been some fall."

"Broken ribs, broken wrist, and a concussion. I think my whole entire body is a bruise."

"I can see why Janine called me to help. Going to be a couple of days till you get used to things."

Abby grimaced at that.

"I don't think I'll ever get used to things."

"I'm assuming you're not speaking about your physical injuries," said Dana. Abby shook her head.

"The mental ones are much harder," Dana said. She took off her coat and laid her scarf on top of it.

"Now let's see what I can do about that coffee. I could use a cup myself."

* * *

"Boys! I brought breakfast!" said Peter Venkman as he came up the stairs, holding a large bag of bagels in one hand and two boxes of doughnuts in the other. He heard Ray groan loudly as he approached.

"Something the matter Ray?"

"Nothing, nothing," said Ray quickly. "You just have impeccable timing as usual."

"I know, I have the best timing," said Peter. "I have jelly doughnuts. You know you _love_ jelly."

"Are you trying to bribe us?" asked Egon.

"Well no, I just wanted to make sure my team is well fed this morning."

"He's going to try to butter Abby up so she doesn't think too badly of him," said Ray. "Classic Venkman." Egon chuckled and nodded as he took out a plain bagel and some cream cheese from the bag.

"I can't have a woman thinking badly of me," said Peter. "It would just be wrong."

"Can't understand why you wouldn't let a woman think badly of you. You've been letting me do it for so many years now." Venkman turned and saw Dana coming towards him, her coat slung across her arm.

"Dana," he said, surprised. "Good- good to see you."

"I would say likewise, but at the moment I'm not so sure." Ray motioned for Abby to come join them at the worktable. She had been behind Dana and took a seat between Egon and Ray at the table. Ray slid her the box of doughnuts and she took one of the raspberry jelly filled.

"You'll need sustenance to get through this."

"I wish we had popcorn," said Egon.

The back and forth went on for about five minutes, much to Abby's amusement. It was almost as good as watching a movie in her opinion. Ray was grinning like an idiot, but Egon's expression remained unchanged as they all three watched things play out.

"But Dana-"

Dana gave him a look that made him sigh.

"You know it's not like that now."

"It is still the same, and it always has been." She paused and looked at Ray.

"Ray, Egon, please take care of your friend here. I've got to run to the Symphony."

"We'll do our best," nodded Ray.

"Abby, it was lovely meeting you. Tell Janine if she needs me for anything, I can stop by later." The physicist nodded, feeling slightly childish. These two women were basically helping her do what she couldn't do with just one hand and they didn't even know her.

But god, that shower had felt nice. She had enjoyed getting to feel the heated water all over her skin, even though Dana had to help her wrap her cast in plastic so it wouldn't get wet. And she had been all too happy to get the brace back on afterwards. It had been awkward trying to breathe in the shower.

But at least she was up and dressed, and feeling slightly human. The doughnut was helping. It was then she realized she hadn't eaten anything since the morning before. No wonder she felt weak and withdrawn. Patty would kick her for not eating.

"I need more coffee," said Ray. "Anyone need anything?"

"My dignity back?" asked Peter, hopeful.

"I'm afraid that's too long gone now," said Ray, hitting Peter playfully on the shoulder.

"Just bring back the pot," said Abby.

Ray laughed. "Two extra large coffees coming up."

"So Abby..." said Egon. "Your team of Ghostbusters. Had you been working very long?"

She shook her head. "We had just started. In our world... ghosts were just a myth, really. People didn't believe. Well, I did, but I was one of the few. But someone started creating these devices, which were making ghosts appear in more seeable forms. Class Fours, very malevolent. Holtz, the engineer on our team had created our packs and traps so we could catch a ghost and study it. But then, events started snowballing and we ended up fighting a really, really big ghost downtown."

"So you were just starting out," said Peter.

"Right before being pulled into the spirit realm." Abby said, adjusting her arm in the sling.

"What is it like there?" asked Ray.

"White and green," she said. She frowned. "Very bright."

"And what happened to the ghost?" asked Egon.

"He dissolved in the white ectoplasm at the end of the tunnel."

"White... ectoplasm?" asked Peter. He looked at Egon.

"I wouldn't be surprised," said Egon. "We know of more than a few existing, but they were man-made."

"There are other types of ectoplasms?" asked Abby. Now that was interesting.

"Oh honey, sweetie, baby," said Peter, going over and wrapping his arm around Abby's shoulders. "You have no idea. Hey Egon, do we still have the toaster?"

"Pete, you might better move that arm before you lose it. You could be touching some very sensitive bruises. She did land on the roof of the car," said Ray, coming back across the room from the stairs. "I'd hate to have you patched up too."

"Oh right. Injuries," said Venkman. "Sure Ray." Ray sat down two cups of coffee, which Abby accepted one of them with a thanks. She swore all the sudden she felt cold and she was certain she was hearing beeping coming from somewhere nearby. She took a sip of the coffee, relieved that Ray had put sugar in it, even though he hadn't asked her preferences.

"Toaster's downstairs in the basement with all the other junk we've collected from the busts," said Egon, looking up at Ray. "But first, I have some questions."

"You know I'm always ready for questions," said Peter.

"For Abby," said Egon. "Not that you're not important Peter."

"Fine," he said, waving a hand. "I suppose I could make myself useful and go talk to the press while you're up here with your cute science experiment."

Abby almost choked on her coffee. The hot liquid burned the back of her throat.

"Ignore him," said Ray, handing her a paper towel off the roll that had sitting on the table. "He gets a little put out when he's not the center of attention."

"There was some extra equipment attached to your pack," said Egon, pointing a black strap sitting on a table next to the one they were sitting at. It was her PKE meter. She winced at how smashed it looked. That would explain the large bruise on her hip she noticed the night before. In fact, most of her left side was just one continual bruise.

"We were wondering what all it was so we could help fix it."

"Well, the smashed bit was my PKE meter," said Abby. She then noticed the other.

"My proton glove! It survived?"

"Mostly unharmed," said Ray. "Egon has fixed the proton pack."

Abby was relieved about the glove. Holtzmann had made that specifically for her and she had hoped to hang onto it for as long as possible, even if it was in bits and pieces. Besides what little she had in her jeans pockets, she didn't have much on her. She had been grateful she hadn't lost her phone in the process. At least she could see photos of her friends and family, even if she couldn't be near them.

"What exactly is this... proton glove?" asked Egon.

"Holtz, our engineer, made it for well- ghost punching."

"Ghost... punching?" said Ray, looking flabbergasted.

"She's brilliant," added Abby. "Absolutely bonkers, but brilliant."

Ray looked at the glove like he was an excited child. "How does it work?"

Abby grinned. "Got an alleyway out back?"

The stairs down had been almost as bad as the stairs up with Dana. But getting out of the building and onto the street made Abby relish the cold air despite the fact that now her ribs were aching. She took several deep breaths despite the pain.

"Winston!" said Ray, yelling towards the street. The black man waved back and came into the alleyway where Ray and Egon had wrangled Peter away from the phone to come watch.

"Abby's just about to demonstrate for us how one piece of their equipment works," said Egon.

"It's called a proton glove," said Ray. "It's for-"

"Hand to spectre combat," said Abby. "It's literally a one shot proton stream."

"You're kidding," said Winston. "How does..."

Abby took that time to aim for a stack of old crates. She punched at them in the air (ribs, oww), enjoying as the blast blew them to bits.

"Whoa," said Peter. The sentiment was shared by the group.

"What I wouldn't have given to punch old Shandor right in the face," said Winston. "Damn."

"I'd love to meet your engineer," said Egon.

"Unless you can figure out a way to get back across, not sure if that's ever gonna happen." She swore she heard a beeping sound again, but didn't see anything.

"She also made a proton shotgun, and some grenades. There was a couple of other guns she created, but I'm not sure they ever got tested."

"Egon, you'd better start writing this down," said Peter. "I need a shotgun." For a brief second, Abby was reminded of Martin Heiss, but disregarded it. She really didn't want to think about the man they nearly killed, even if he was an ass.

"I'm going to need designs," said Egon. "But any of those are... feasible."

"I can help with some of that. We did do some of the design together," Abby said before coughing. The doctor had instructed her that she'd need to do that at least once an hour to keep fluid out of her lungs, but she hadn't expected for it to turn into a whole coughing fit. She held her side, wincing hard.

"Way too much fresh air," said Winston, coming up beside Abby. "Let's get inside before you crack those ribs even more."

Abby knew she couldn't do anything but reluctantly agree. It was cold out and she didn't even have a jacket on.


	8. Black Hole Sun

One ice pack and two pain pills later, Abby was nibbling on a bagel and lox that Peter had brought. She couldn't take the medicine on an empty stomach and figured a raspberry filled doughnut and coffee probably didn't count as regular food. Both Ray and Egon had a lot of questions about the business, and Winston asked about her friends. The latter was nice. She liked being a Ghostbuster, but even though they had found out that ghosts were a real phenomenon, her friends had mattered more.

She couldn't help but think of them and wondering what they were doing at the moment. She really hoped they weren't grieving for her and someone was keeping on eye on Holtz and making sure she slept and ate regularly. Erin too. Patty was going to have her hands full. If they weren't the ones having to take care of Patty.

She hoped they were all alright.

Abby was surprised when she found out that Ray, Egon, and Peter all had degrees in parapsychology. She had considered it, but both she and Erin loved science and physics and it really had formed their bond as friends in high school and college. She questioned them on the nature of their degrees and was surprised at how much knowledge there was in their world. Maybe she should have done more research over the years. She had studied it, but not in the depth in which they had. And it didn't help that practically no universities had parapsychology departments or paranormal study.

She almost felt like there was a divide between them. Old school and new school. She and the others had more of a modern science feel to them. This team had more of an old school mysticism mixed with science.

It was fascinating.

But as much as she wanted to learn about this team, she really needed to concentrate on what she was going to do now and in the future.

"Coffee?" asked Egon, pointing to her cup. She shook her head no.

"What do you think I should do Egon?"

He looked surprised at her, his eyes unsure.

"What exactly do you mean?"

"I'm dead to my world. I really... I don't have a place in yours. I already exist here, probably. I'm a 12 year old kid in Rochester, Michigan with the nerdiest glasses who really liked science and collecting comic books, Nintendo games, and Ninja Turtles."

"You... you are a bit out of place," said Egon. "But- it doesn't mean you couldn't have a life here. If you're afraid of meeting yourself in the future, you could take another name, another identity..."

"And not be myself?" frowned Abby, adjusting her glasses a little.

"People in the Witness Protection Programs do it all the time."

"But never to do science and paranormal..."

There was a rather loud beeping in the room.

"Shit," said Ray. He had been holding a piece of equipment in his hands that spun multiple colors. Abby hadn't been sure what he was doing with it, but he been using it all over the room. She had expected he was testing something.

"There's no time Egon! Our calculations were off by about 18 hours!" he yelled. A wind picked up in the air around them, chilling Abby to the bone. She shivered in the cold. She could definitely feel it in her broken wrist. It was just unsettling in her bones.

"Packs boys!" yelled Ray. He went over to Abby's side. "Think you can operate yours one handed?" Winston and Egon had already headed downstairs and were coming back up with four proton packs. Ray helped Abby get hers on and handed her the proton wand after she took her arm out of the sling. She could hold it with one hand and direct it with the other. The pack was already pressing against her ribs and it was harder to breathe. But she powered through it as she watched the others put theirs on.

"What's going on?" she said to Winston, who was standing beside her. He shook his head and pointed outside. She gulped when she saw it.

A portal, much like the one Rowan had opened. This one was black on the inside, and purple and white energy surrounded it. It was crackling loudly in the air above the New York streets. It was sending people running for the safety of nearby buildings.

"Up to the roof!" yelled Peter. They all followed. Abby worried for a moment at _how_ they were going to close it, considering what she and the others had to do to close the one that had formed in the Mercado. As soon as they got up top, a thunderstorm had clouded the skies, and the icy wind she had felt earlier was blowing icy tendrils around them. It took her a second to realize it wasn't ice, but _ghosts_. And they were coming out of the portal.

"Where's the Rookie when we need him?" yelled Winston to Ray.

"Egon sent him on errands," yelled Ray back. They were looking all around. It was then Abby realized they had stuck her in the middle of the group, almost like a protective barrier.

"Where are they Ray?" said Peter loudly. "It's not like the Guardians to NOT show themselves."

"Guardians?" asked Abby to Egon.

"We've tangled with them before," he said quickly to Abby. He looked worried for a second. "But never on the wrong side." She briefly wondered for a moment by what he meant by "wrong side."

Something out of the corner of her eye moved and Abby twirled around as quick as she could to see four will-o-wisps. They were black and silver, surrounding a white ball of energy in the middle.

"Energy is still up Egon. And it's fueling the portal," Ray said with a grimace, holding the piece of equipment in his hand from earlier.

"Well hello boys," said Peter, walking up to the wisps. "Haven't see you in a long time. How are things? What's new in the ghost realm?"

It was then Abby had a bad feeling as the wisps unfurled themselves from around the white balls of light that were their center. Hooded figures soon materialized around all four. They stood in front of Peter, their black cloaks unwavering even in the wind. They each lifted a ghostly hand.

And pointed towards her.

 _Shit._

"We know boys, we know," said Peter. "But what is a boy supposed to do when a pretty lady lands on top of his car? Going to let some careless thugs in black hooded cloaks take her away? Why hell no! He's going to stand up to those idiots and tell them: 'NO WAY.'"

A loud screech came from the figures.

"Get 'em!" said Peter, falling back to the others. One by one they started shooting a proton stream at the four Guardians. Abby watched as four blasts sent the Guardians scrambling. They swooped down overhead, making all of them duck. She felt something grip her shoulder and she cried out in pain. It was like ice was crackling all over her skin as she wrenched out of its grip.

"Get down!" yelled Winston and Abby really ducked. He blasted the Guardian, who let out a painful screech and flew away. Another swooped down low, and Ray got that one with a blast from his pack.

"Drive them to the portal!" yelled Egon. The wind was blowing hard around them now, and lightning was crashing overhead.

"We've got to close that thing!" yelled Ray. He fell back to beside Abby and gestured towards the portal.

"Once we get them inside, use your proton pack and that should close it."

"But-"

"You've got to," he said. He paused. "You're probably the only person besides them who can."

Abby was certain she didn't know what he meant, but when she saw Peter snag a Guardian with the proton stream and flung it towards the portal, she knew she had to try. It went straight through it, slipping into the blackness within. Egon was next, then Winston. Ray nodded to her and slammed the last one into it. She turned on her own and shot it towards the portal, circling it with the stream. She was amazed when it actually closed up.

"Oh thank god," said Peter, crouching down on his knees. Abby's wrist was already throbbing and starting to shake from gripping her proton wand. The skies were starting to clear to a dull grey as Egon came over and holstered the wand. He helped her take off the pack. If it wasn't for the brace and cast, she would probably be in a lot more pain.

"Oh god," she said, her mind reeling and her teeth chattering. She saw Ray approach, holding up the same piece of equipment he had been holding before. It was beeping loudly.

"Energy level has dissipated, but it's still too high for the PKE meter. You were right about the pack though. It did drain off some of it."

"We've got to do something," said Egon. "If the levels keep rising like this, we're going to have portals opening on a daily basis."

"Unless you've got an explanation already for _why_ she exists and how to..." began Peter.

It was that moment that Abby had the horrible realization that Ray had been scanning _her_ all this time. He had a Psychokinetic Energy Reader.

Ghosts and psychokinetic energy. That was what had been beeping that she had kept hearing. The Guardians had been there for _her_. PKE energy also had the ability to open portals. It was how ghosts traveled.

She had the energy. And it was _rising_.

Now she really felt sick. No wonder Peter had called her a science experiment.

She by that definition was a living, breathing _ghost_.

Who had just opened a portal unknowingly.

She was angry, distraught, upset, scared, and hurt. She was very much hurting at the moment. She unfastened her long sleeve with her good hand and pushed off the shirt sleeve. Her skin was red and purple from where the Guardian gripped her shoulder. She touched it with a hiss.

"Frostnip," said Winston, grimacing. "They tend to do that. Shows you're human." He gestured to the door. "We'll go inside and get warmed up. It's cold as Santa's balls out here." He put an arm around her shoulders as they walked back towards the entrance. Abby couldn't help but feel the warmth and strength of Winston's personality. She followed him inside.


	9. Far Behind

Winston had helped Abby warm up with some warm towels for her shoulder, but the cold that had settled into her bones was still there. It was very unsettling, especially in her hands and wrists. She was getting very tired of being hurt and injured. But at least her skin felt warmer on her shoulder and didn't sting. And Winston had been beyond a gentleman and hadn't said anything when she had to pull off her long sleeved shirt to reach all of the frostbite. He also helped her adjust her sling so that it felt in place again. Neither of them spoke about the events on the roof, but he had spoken about missing the opera recently with his girlfriend and how he was hoping to get back to the show again once things had settled down and how much he loved the theatre.

She was the thing that needed settling down, apparently. How could she have been so _blind_ all this time? Of course everything about her was wrong. So so wrong. She had even told Egon that earlier before the portal. She shouldn't exist in this universe. At least, 38 year old Abby shouldn't. 12 year old Abby was probably at home, making a Christmas wish list and perfecting it till it had everything she wanted. Not that her mother would have gotten it all. She wasn't much for things that she deemed frivolous.

Peter had gone back downstairs and Ray and Egon had come back in and gone back immediately to working on something. She was instantly reminded of her and Holtz. They had worked together at Higgins for so long that any problem that they came across they automatically conferred and started working on it. The team worked so well together that they had fallen into their old habits.

She wondered if the others had their own habits by now. The thought almost made her want to cry. The ache in her hands was worse as she tried to calm her nerves. She couldn't take being in the firehouse at that moment. It felt so stuffy in there, like she couldn't breathe without suffocating.

So she headed to the roof. It hadn't even been that hard as no one had even noticed she had left. It wasn't as cold as it had been earlier, which was something she was happy about as she had no jacket to keep her warm. It was one of the things that had slipped her mind when Janine had asked her for things she might need. She sat on an old milk crate someone had forgotten and stared at the line of rooftops as far as she could see.

It was stupid. It was all stupid. She shouldn't be alive. She was dead. DEAD. Even apparently the Guardians of the stupid ghost realm had come after her. She didn't know why the other team had saved her from them. Her life was meaningless now. She was _nothing_. There was no validation, no return on her life's work. No one would ever know of her sacrifice in her universe because they didn't care. And why should they? Ghosts weren't real. They were never real to anyone else.

Abby felt the tears come and didn't even try to stop them. 

* * *

Downstairs, Ray and Egon were discussing how they were going to deal with the Guardians when they felt their ears pop.

"Okay, that was a definite AP-xH shift," said Egon, rubbing his left ear. "Big one."

"Been awhile since my ears have popped like that," said Ray. "I don't know of any ghosts around here…" He glanced wildly around.

"Abby? Abby?"

Egon got up and went across the room to the bathroom and knocked on the door before opening it. He did the same to the spare room. Winston came up the stairs about that time.

"Hey, was Abby down there?" asked Ray.

"Haven't seen her," said Winston. "Been helping Peter make some calls. Oh, and the Rookie's back. Peter's got him typing up some statements and faxing them to the newspapers."

"Shit," said Ray. "Where could she be?"

Winston crossed his arms and looked at Ray sternly. "Well considering the cat is now out of the bag, you might want to think about the fact that you've got possibly the very loneliest person in our universe who has just heard that she shouldn't exist and got attacked by some supernatural creatures for it. You might want to ponder on that thought a moment and see how that feels."

"Oh hell," Ray said.

"Mmhmm," said Winston. Ray grabbed his jacket off the back of the chair he was sitting on and ran up to the roof of the building. He was relieved to find Abby sitting up there, lost in thought.

She was also shivering. He took off his leather bomber jacket and wrapped it around Abby's shoulders.

"We didn't think," he said apologetically.

"That was obvious," said Abby, faltering a moment. She was a little flattered that Ray had easily given up his coat. And it was warm at least. He pulled up what looked like an old camping chair and sat down across from her.

"You know as scientists we try to figure out the unknown. To make it explainable. We knew something was wrong when you sort of appeared out of nowhere. We wanted to help you. And we probably should have explained that we needed to help you because something wasn't right."

Abby sighed. "I know that. I'm not a complete idiot Ray. I'd be curious about me too if it wasn't happening, you know, so personally." She grimaced as she looked at her hands.

"I can't get them to stop freezing."

"Did Winston not help you with the frostbite?" he asked.

"He did," said Abby. "But that was my shoulder. This is my hands and wrists. It's like… cold is radiating through my bones."

"Oh Abby…" said Ray, grimacing. "Temperature drop."

She closed her eyes and put her hands up to her face.

"I don't want to think about it Ray. It terrifies me."

"And it should," he said. He pulled her hands back down. "But you need to focus. Please."

"I would if I could," she complained, pulling out of his grip.

"They're going to come back if we don't get this PKE thing figured out."

"What… what are they? Egon didn't exactly explain."

"The Guardians are well, the guardians of the ghost realm," began Peter. "They monitor the beings that come in and out. Think of it like the gates of the underworld. They guard the four main ways in out of the spirit realm."

"So I possibly transgressed one?"

"More than likely, yes. Your presence I would have to imagine was not a welcome sight. They do not like living, breathing humans in their world."

"But all _four_?"

"You must have pissed them off royally?" grinned Ray, looking excited.

"So you've seen them before?" asked Abby, warily looking up to the skies.

"A few times, yes. We've been in other dimensions. Warped ones that technically shouldn't have existed."

"That must have been interesting," said Abby. She used the edge of her hard cast to scratch her knee.

"Not when it's your life on the line." He grimaced. "That was bad."

"Noticed," she said sarcastically. "A big string of them."

"You know, us men aren't quite good with this sort of thing."

"Not exactly the best with them either," said Abby. "It's the science. It blinds us to the basic of human emotions."

"Would you like to come help us do some more research?" asked Ray. "You know you're more than welcome. And we could use a blood sample." Abby glared at him over her glasses.

"At least all I ask for is blood," he said pragmatically, holding up a hand in his defense. "Could be worse."

"Just as long as you don't cause any more injuries in the process," she said with a huff. "I don't think I can take any more." 

* * *

Abby couldn't help but feel a little silly laughing at Egon, Ray, and Peter later that evening. Peter was pulling on Ray's ears after he refused to tell Peter something. She didn't know what it was, but he seemed awfully embarrassed by it and wouldn't look anyone in the face. She was relieved when Janine came up with pizza. She was starving. She had wondered about going and grabbing something to eat herself. Though she wondered if any of the bills in her wallet were from any further back than 1996.

But her hands were warmer, so that was something.

Her heart was a bit warmer too, as she was enjoying the company. She had felt guilty about that automatically. She didn't know any of these men personally, except what little they had shown her. She trusted them, somehow.

Or maybe she trusted the logo and what they did.

Peter came up beside her, carrying a slice of pepperoni pizza.

"So are Ray and Egon getting anything figured out?"

"I don't– I'm not sure," sighed Abby. "They've ran every test they can think of to test a theory, but I think the fact that I'm breathing and I have a pulse sort of throws those off-balance."

"So they're still going with the undead theory."

"Oh yes, I am Schrödinger's Cat," said Abby sarcastically.

"Well, if there are many realities, which thank you for absolutely proving this is true, it is very likely that you could be dead and alive at the same time."

"Technically I am," said Abby, picking at a slice of pizza. "I'm dead and gone in my own universe, and I'm alive in this one."

"I wonder what brought you to _this_ universe," said Egon. "This must be a reason."

"Maybe I was just looking for a friendly face," said Abby with a shrug.

"Well, you're the prettiest ghost I've ever seen," said Peter. He held up an arm in triumph at Abby's surprised face.

"Yes! I can still get any woman to blush! You're a hard nut to crack, girl."

"You can hit him if you'd like," said Janine, shaking her head in her seat next to Egon. "Everyone else does."

"How do you put up with him?" said Abby, fanning her cheeks.

"I send them out to bust ghosts," the redhead smirked. "Plus, Peter's hardly ever here unless he's working, so that helps."

"Guess he must be working then."

"Everyone's here and busy," said Janine. She looked at Ray when she caught him staring. She pointed over to their intern Rookie who was in the middle of a book and munching on a slice of pizza. "Having portals open in New York is something that the city has us on the books for keeping under wraps."

Abby frowned at that, wondering if there was anything she could do to prevent them. When she heard a beeping, she almost wanted to snap at Ray or Egon for scanning her again with what she had found out was a Giga meter. If she ever made it back to Holtzmann, she was so making her one to go along with their PKE one.

"What about the ghosts that came through the portal earlier?" Abby asked Janine. She shrugged.

"They'll show up eventually."

"What if something really–"

"Don't worry your head about it," said Janine. "Like I said, they'll eventually turn up."

"Everybody keeps telling me not to worry when it's all that I can think about," sighed Abby.

"They'll take care of things," the secretary said. "Honestly… they really want to. Do you know how excited they are? Yeah, they just finished a big bust. The mayor was possessed by the ghost of a man– pretty nasty fella– who tried to become a god and failed. That's typical for us. You don't know how many gods and demigods we've had to deal with. But you're human and a fellow Ghostbuster. And they're frankly, quite giddy."

"Maybe their giddiness can turn into a way for me to go home," said Abby. "Theoretically I could travel through a portal again, but the infinite number of universes out there I go could through till I found my own are just…"

"And we don't even have any ships that look like the Enterprise you could travel in," said Janine. Abby wanted to laugh.

"Original or new?"

"Original for me. Kirk was a cutie patootie."

"Think Egon would make a good Spock?"

"Oh, no question," said Janine. "And Ray is Bones, hands down."

Abby laughed at that, and smiled at Janine.

"You'd like a good Uhura."

"On the ghost ship Enterprise," said the secretary. "You want anything doll? I know you've got to be tired after putting up with them all day."

Abby started to tell Janine that she really needed to go look for a coat, but stopped.

"There wouldn't happen to be by chance a spare radio around here?"


	10. Better Life

The next morning, Ray and Egon came downstairs and heard the sound of R.E.M.'s "Losing My Religion" being played loudly over a radio. They found Abby busy at their work area on the second floor. Dana Barrett was sitting across the table on a stool, looking fascinated as Abby worked one handed.

"Dana," greeted Ray.

"Ray. Egon," she nodded in greeting, smiling at the two men.

"What is going on?" asked Egon.

"Your friend here has been busy," said Dana. "And keeping me entertained. I've watched you all work before, but never alone and one handed."

"It would help if I could flex my fingers a little bit more fully," Abby said, wiggling them as she held onto the glove she was working on with her injured hand to steady it. She saw Ray reaching for the Giga meter.

"Don't bother, I've been keeping an eye on it. I'm still rising," she said. "No matter what I do. I've been trying a few things, but so far nothing has helped."

"Welcome back Dr. Yates," said Egon with a smile.

"I've got to do something," she said. "Or I'm going to go nuts waiting on you four." Ray snorted at that.

"Just make sure to take it easy Abby. You're not even remotely near being fully healed."

"Only when I know if I can make it home or not," she said. "Or if I really am alive."

"You are breathing, your heart is beating, and you feel pain," said Egon. "All qualifications for a living human."

"Definite on the pain," said Abby. "I had to take two of the pain pills already to deal with it all."

Ah, narcotics," said Dana. "Now there is a sign that you are human." She got up from her seat.

"And boys, do take care of her. I'm getting Abby and Janine tickets to come see the Symphony on Friday. A girl's night out."

"Uh, Dana," began Ray. "Perhaps that is not the best of ideas..."

"She'll be fine Ray," said Dana. "Besides, at some point she needs to start living here."

Egon and Ray shared a disheartening look.

"Is there something going on?" said Dana, frowning.

"What they're trying not to say is that they're not sure if I'll still be alive in this universe by Friday if I don't stop collecting psychokinetic energy around me," stated Abby. Dana glanced over to Egon and Ray, who looked sheepish.

"She opens portals to the netherworld," said Ray, grimacing. "Kind of a hazard."

"Is there nothing you can do to help?" asked Dana to Egon.

"We're trying," he said. "But this is way beyond something we can control."

Dana looked to Abby, who shrugged. She could sympathize with them. She couldn't come up with any ideas either, except to get out of this universe. It would be the only safe way of doing it. She had pulled apart her proton glove and had built another one from scratch using bits and pieces she could find around the firehouse. She wasn't Holtz, but she could make it on her own. She was going to need it.

Though if she ever made it back to her universe, she was challenging Holtzmann to a one handed building contest. Now that would be _fun_.

Dana said goodbye to the three of them, leaving them in silence. The radio started playing a Nirvana song and she automatically missed the Foo Fighters. She wouldn't get to hear "Learn to Fly" till 1999. 8 years seemed like a long time. She sighed, looking down at the glove.

Would she even want to stay here? It... really wasn't like she had anything in this New York. She didn't have a home or a job... She had friends she supposed. That was something. Egon had assured her that she would always have a place there with the team... but she had to think about the future. She knew little Abby. If she had ever heard of the Ghostbusters, she would come looking for them and she would want to work with them. She had to admit, she would definitely be jealous of little Abby if she did. Mainly because she would have little Erin in tow. And maybe they would meet little Holtzmann and little Patty. Maybe they would be a secondary team to the original Ghostbusters. The thought was rather bittersweet. She wanted her team back. She wanted her friends back.

And she was going to do it. Or die (again) trying. The _hell_ with the Guardians.

"You know, I've noticed," said Abby, flipping a screwdriver in her hand. "You've all got your roles here. Peter is the lovable but sometimes annoying King. Janine is more or less your commanding queen. Ray, you are the knight with the heart of gold. Winston the Wise. Egon is a wizard. Your Rookie- whatever his name is - is a loyal squire."

"If you want to think about it in terms of fairy tales, then sure," said Ray. "We fit those roles. Peter has always been our lead. We'd follow him into battle."

"Or rather, we wait for him to catch up," mused Egon.

"See? Exactly," said Abby.

"You trying to think how you'd fit in with our team?" asked Ray.

Abby hadn't really thought about it, so she shrugged. "I suppose."

"I would think that would be fairly obvious," said Ray. He looked slightly amused. "The Damsel in Distress with the Royal Knights to the rescue."

Abby let out a little squeak, reddening as she nearly dropped the screwdriver.

"I'm not in distress," she said, trying not to let her voice crack.

"Well, no," said Egon. "But you are injured." He pointed to her wrist and side. "Other than that, we do believe you can take care of yourself." Ray nodded.

"And since Peter has basically proclaimed to the Guardians that you're under our care, you're pretty much the Protected Princess."

"And somewhere my feminism is dying a horrible, painful death," said Abby with a sigh.

"No need," said Ray. He came over and picked up the proton glove.

"You built this already today? I'd say that's not much of a sign of a damsel in distress."

"I took the old one apart and put it back together again so I could remember how Holtz built it." She picked up the old one and handed it to Ray. She took up the new one.

"You can keep that one. I only need this one." She paused. "And thanks for the jacket." She put it on over one arm and headed for the stairs up.

"I think I just lost my favorite jacket," whimpered Ray. Egon patted him on the shoulder.

"But you gained a proton glove that shoots proton bursts like the Boson darts."

They heard a rumbling in the distance. Ray and Egon sighed together and ran up to the roof.

"I didn't do it," yelled Abby as they got top side. She pointed off into the distance.

"No, no, it's the Guardians probably," said Ray, defeated, "Egon?" He looked over to his friend and business partner.

"Yes, Ray?"

"When was the last time you saw a snowman 115 foot tall?"

"March?"

"Got a blowtorch?" asked Abby, a small smirk on her face.

"None that big," said Ray staring up at the snowman as it rampaged on the bank of the Hudson.

"We should hurry up and get down to the river," said Egon. "Before he does too much damage." The two men ran towards the stairs down, and Abby soon followed. Winston and Peter had already suited up by the time she got downstairs. Her own things were still upstairs, but she knew what both Peter and Ray were going to say already. She waited by Janine's desk.

"Now Abby..." said Ray. Abby had her arms crossed, which wasn't hard considering one of them was already in a sling. She looked over and nearly laughed when she saw Janine doing the same thing. Abby pushed her glasses down like the Ghostbusters secretary.

"They're starting to look alike already, god help us," said Ray.

"Women. They congregate and make a mess out of things," scoffed Peter.

"Just get out of here already," said Janine. The men started piling into the Ecto-1 (with the hood having been pounded out of its dents) and headed out. Abby uncrossed her arms after they left.

"You up for a field trip?" she asked Janine.

"Where are we going?"

"I need things," sighed Abby, hating to have to lie again. "And if I ended up staying here much longer, I'm going to need my own apartment. Know of any thrift stores nearby where we could start looking? Think maybe they'd take a twenty dollar bill printed in 2003 without asking too many questions?"

"I'm sure Ray and Egon wouldn't mind if you stayed here with them," said Janine. She eyed Ray's jacket.

"Especially Ray."

"I need to get out of here for a few minutes," said Abby. "Do you think they'll mind if you take off?"

"Them? Please," said Janine. "We've got an answering machine and there's a large snowman rampaging. I don't think anybody's going to be come calling."


	11. Titanium

Abby had stuffed her arm brace into a Ghostbusters tote bag the others had used as a promotional thing way back when. Janine had found it in one of her desk drawers and offered it for her to use. It was a relief to be outside the firehouse and doing something. While she had a plan… the thought that this could be her universe now loomed in the back of her mind and she wanted to see more of it. Maybe New York in 1991 could be an exciting time. It wouldn't be that long till the Clinton administration. The world would be changing. _Friends_ and _Will and Grace_ would be on television. And the Disney Renaissance was just about to start its big swing.

Who was she kidding though? She really didn't want to relive the 90's. There was no Netflix and Hulu and for the vast majority of people, no Internet.

God, what would she do without _Amazon_?

But at least she was out and about. And since there was a snowman attack, there was less people on the streets. She grimaced when she felt her hands and forearms go cold. The first thing she was going to do was buy some gloves. Really thick, long ones to wear once she could fit them over both hands. She started rubbing her forearm, but the cold got so bad that Abby hit her knees on the sidewalk.

"Abby?" asked Janine, coming back beside her.

"Run Janine," Abby gasped out. She didn't even have to look up to know what was happening above them. She could feel their presence the minute the portal opened. "Get to the others. Tell them the Guardians are here!"

The redheaded secretary looked at Abby, unbelieving for a moment.

"Go! Find them and get their asses back here asap once they finished with the large Olaf they've got going on by the river! Please!"

Janine didn't have to be told twice when the wind picked up around them. God, now Abby knew she was an idiot. Why hadn't she listened to her instincts instead of wanting to make the best of the situation for a few minutes? She could see the portal getting wider out of the corner of her eye, but she noticed two of the Guardians moving quickly to close it before it could.

"I'm not going with you," she said loudly. She got to her feet and glared defiantly at the two Guardians in front of her. "I know that's what you want." The one on the right of her lifted a hand and Abby automatically sunk to the ground in absolute cold. She tried to resist, but it was difficult and she knew why. They had control over the ghost realm, which meant they had control over her. They were using what they could to subdue her.

And that, made her angry. It wasn't her fault that she ended up dying there. It was damn Rowan's. The Guardians seemed agitated, and two of them grabbed her by her shoulders. Cold eroded her body and soul, making her shiver all the way down.

"You will come with us," said a voice. The other two Guardians had come closer, and one of them had placed their hand on top of her head. Telepathy. It was probably their only means of communication. She had experienced a voice before inside her head, and she had hoped never again. She struggled to get the Guardians out of her mind, but to no avail. There was a reason why they were Guardians. Their strength was greater than hers. It did everything to make her compliant, but there was nothing they could do to make her come willingly into that good night.

Abby reached down as far as she could inside herself and pulled up the courage to get up off the ground. They still had a grip on her shoulders, but she didn't care. Killing her was the only option she was going to give them. She reached down into the tote bag on her side and pulled out her proton glove. She blasted one of the Guardians behind her before turning and doing it to the other. They dived in on top of Abby, and she jerked away from them quickly, dropping the proton glove in the process. She went to grab it, but had to change direction to get away from one of them. She was defenseless now. She hoped maybe the glove wouldn't be damaged and the others could use it when she was gone. She closed her eyes and wished that she could just go home. Before she knew it, a blast of cold came from her hands and extending outward from her in a circle. The Guardians dived in again after avoiding her blast. The cold had surprised Abby so much that she didn't have time to dodge the Guardians and they grabbed her again. One of the things they had to their advantage was the ability of flight, which they were using as they swooped away from the street.

"Oh hell," she said to herself as she felt her feet lift off the ground. That was all she needed right now. To be completely at the Guardians mercy as she really, really did not want to fall again. She looked down when she heard the screech of tires. When she heard the sound of a proton stream and the screech of a Guardian, it was a joyful sound. Although she didn't see the Ecto-1, but she did spy a motorcycle. And the Rookie the others had hired. He was looking very determined with his proton pack, which was bigger than the others she had seen. He looked awfully small on the ground, and reminded her of how Kevin looked before he had been possessed.

He shot at another Guardian who gave a loud high pitched screech. The other two dived down low to avoid the blasts, and Abby took that moment to wrench out of their grip. She landed with both feet on the street after a drop. She gritted her teeth to stay upright, trying to keep her knees bent and her body moving to take dissipate some of the jolt away from her torso. She ran forward and picked up the proton glove, relieved to see it wasn't damaged. She turned around and shot towards the two Guardians who were coming after her. The kid shot after them as well, and they seemed to go away. Abby could no longer feel their presence.

"I'm not going back with you!" she yelled to the empty air. She looked over to the Rookie, who was grinning and gave her a thumbs up. All she wanted to do was to throw up and pass out, and she wasn't sure which one was going to come first. She held a hand to her side. Her feet were aching. Every part of her was really. She shouldn't have jumped down.

 _But where had that blast of cold come from?_

She took the Rookie's assistance when he jogged up to her. She gingerly walked to a nearby planter to sit down. She leaned against the tree that was inside of it.

She was really, really tired of being injured.

"Thank you," she said to him. She grimaced and rubbed her side.

"What is your name anyways?"

He shrugged, almost hesitant to answer. "Bryan."

"Well Bryan, I'm going to buy you a burger for saving my life."

He perked up and grinned at that.


	12. Land of Confusion

When Janine had called the team on the CB radio and told them that there was a run-in with the Guardians, they had feared the worst. But when they got back and found the Rookie outside with Abby's old proton glove and blasting some old boxes and garbage bags and Janine inside munching on a rather juicy looking hamburger, there was absolute calm.

"Janine, please tell me there is a reason– that looks really good, actually– why isn't this place mass hysteria if the GUARDIANS showed up here?" asked Peter.

"Technically it was in the street about five blocks down," said Janine. "But the kid the Abby drove them off. He said she put up a good fight."

"Abby, is she alright?" asked Ray, looking concerned.

"About as good as can be expected for someone who just got attacked for a second time," said Janine.

"We should have known the snowman was just a decoy," said Ray.

"He was a very _big_ decoy," said Peter. "But we had to do what we had to do, Ray."

"You might want to check in on her Egon," said the secretary. "I think something must have happened. Last I checked, she was up there experimenting."

"With what?"

Janine shrugged. Egon took one look at Ray and they headed up the stairs. There was an unmistakable chill in the air as they ascended.

"It's worse than we feared," murmured Egon. "Every time they appear the progress climbs even higher." Ray grimaced.

"We've got to keep the Guardians away from her," Ray said.

"Not to sound crass, but why not let them do their job?" asked Winston. "I'm all for saving lives, but at this point, the odds are stacked against her if they keep on coming."

"That's the point, to help even the odds," said Egon. "She really needs our help." He paused on the stairs, making the rest of the group do as well. "If we don't slow down or stop the process, she will no longer be human."

"She'll be a ghost," stated Peter. "But question Ray, Egon. She's human. We've all seen it with our eyes. How will she _become_ a ghost? Is there such a thing as a ghost-human hybrid? A _living_ ghost?"

"Not in this universe at least," said Egon. He frowned when he realized there were still water spots on his glasses from the snow and took out a cloth from his pocket to clean them.

"But then, we're always up for new experiences."

They started back up the stairs. All four of them came to a stop when they saw Abby sitting on a stool, the proton glove, Giga and PKE meters sitting out in front of her. The scary thing was the aura of cold that surrounded her, including ice spots on the floor and the icicles hanging off the worktable.

"What the–?" said Winston. Abby looked up at the sound.

"Sorry guys," she said. "I can't control the cold. On the flip side of things, every time it gets cooler, the psychokinetic energy levels drop further. Granted it goes back up automatically, but that's a good sign, right?"

"How are you not freezing?" said Peter.

Ray went over and felt of Abby's cheek. It was ice cold. She still had a pulse as he felt of her wrist, but it was very slow.

"You're changing," he said softly. "Abby, you need to focus. Please."

"Can't," she said, shaking her head. "They touched my– my mind. Sort of like a spectral possession but they've got a hold of me."

"Abby–" said Ray, his face falling.

"Nothing we can do Ray," said Abby. "It's over." A soft sob escaped her, and tears ran down her cheeks.

"If the others ever figure out how to find me, explain to them what happened."

"No," said Winston coming over to the table. "You've got to fight this. They're not here right now to control you."

"No, but they're still in her head, which is the problem," said Peter. "Out of the way boys." He pushed Ray back to Egon.

"Keep him from being emotional, would you?" Winston nodded to Peter and helped Egon push Ray back downstairs.

"Abby, I need you to listen to me," said Peter. He got closer and placed his hands on her shoulders, turning Abby to face him. He nearly flinched when he felt how cold her skin was even through her clothes, but he held on. "They got to you, I know. The Guardians are assholes, grade A+ ones. They think they own you just because you came through their realm. But they don't own you, okay Abby? The only person who owns you is you. You've got to fight it. Forget the fact that you died. You _lived_. You came through the fucking barrier between the universes, not to mention the barrier between this world and the ghost realm. That is not a feat that is done easy. Or hell, _hard_. We, as in every damn human in all the universes, can't _cheat_ death. But you _did_ , you fucking beautiful person you. You showed the whole damn ghost world that they can't hold down Abby Yates, no matter how she lived or died."

Confusion was evident on Abby's face as she struggled with what he said. He could almost feel the conflicting thoughts in her head.

"That's it baby, come back to me," said Peter. "Now, close your eyes and concentrate on them. Your team. You _will_ be going back to them. I need for you to breathe for me. In and out, Inhale in on 1, exhale on 2."

Abby started shaking her head violently. Peter knew where that was coming from. Fear. Fear of the unknown - fear of what was to come, fear of what had been left behind.

Peter put his hands to her temples to steady her head. "Abby, we are not going to let you become a Class IV, Grounded, Reactive, Corporeal, Free Roaming T5, Ultra Dimensional Spectre without putting up a damn fight."

He knew that would hit a nerve the minute he said it. Abby's eyes opened and she glared at him, her green eyes showing anger.

"So you've already got the Classification worked out for me, have you?"

"Well, we do have to document every ghost we come across," he smirked, loving when things worked out like he wanted. He let go of her shoulders and took a step backward. "And when the Guardians do take you, we need something to–"

The resulting punch to Peter Venkman's jaw sent him sprawling to the floor and sliding across the ice patches. Ray was the first one to appear as Abby was shaking her right hand. He went to help up Peter as Egon went over to Abby, inspecting her hand, a grin slowly spreading across his lips.

"Nothing seems to be broken."

"Well, something _was_ broken," said Peter, rubbing his jaw as he opened and closed his mouth. It had been a good punch. "Look at the table." His eyes danced as he grinned. Both Ray and Egon looked at the table and noticed the icicles were gone. Ray put his hand down on the table. The metal was no longer freezing cold. Egon picked up the PKE meter and scanned Abby with it. She flinched at first, but she was still standing defiant at Peter's words.

"What the hell did you say?" Ray asked Peter, looking aghast.

"What I needed to," he said in response. "And it worked."

"I am not a Class IV anything," said Abby. Egon's eyes went to Peter.

"You didn't, did you?" When Peter didn't say anything, Ray rolled his eyes.

"Of course he did." He went over to Abby, laying a hand on her shoulder.

"Welcome back."

She sighed. "I should have stayed downstairs with Janine. Then maybe it wouldn't have been quite as noisy in my head."

"That's their job. It would have happened either way," said Egon. "You up for something? I have an idea that I'd like to speak to everyone about."


	13. Go Your Own Way

The whole group sat around the worktable upstairs, looking at Egon. He said he wanted to try something, but so far all they were doing was sitting and having a beer. And in Egon's case, a Coke.

"So what is a ghost, exactly?" asked Egon.

"Oh you've got to be kidding me," said Peter. "Egon..."

"A ghost is an alleged non-corporeal manifestation of a dead person or, sometimes, an animal or an inanimate object. It is often claimed to be a manifestation of the spirit or soul of a person which has remained on Earth after death." Ray paused. "According to some beliefs, a ghost may be the personality of a person after his or her death, and not directly tied to the soul or spirit."

"We know that," said Winston. "But what is the point? We know what a ghost is."

"No, we don't," said Egon. "Theoretically there could be other types of ghostly types out there." He pointed to Abby.

"If we don't let the Guardians take Abby, then we might see a new type." He looked apologetic in her direction, but she waved him off. "We've seen Abby manifest the ghost... skill set for lack of a better term. But she's living, breathing human. That is not the definition of a ghost."

"That's more like the definition of a Class VII entity," said Ray, not thinking.

"Class Seven?" repeated Abby. That was a little frightening.

"And the most dangerous of Meta-Spectres." said Ray. "Not something we run across often."

"You don't think that they-" said Ray, looking at Egon. He looked quite pensive at speaking.

"That's exactly what I'm thinking," said Egon. "That would explain why they want to get their hands on Abby. They're not wanting to keep her under their control like a ghost, they're wanting to keep her from manifesting that skill set at all."

"You don't think that Abby..." said Peter. "I'm not even sure what I'm trying to say here."

The pieces were forming together, but Abby didn't know if she even wanted to say them. This was her life, this was her. It was happening to _her_.

"Since I did not die in my world," she started to say. "And I more than likely died in the ghost realm, which means I was supposed to pass on to... whatever. But my soul was shoved back into my body instead of leaving for reasons unknown..."

Egon nodded.

"But-" began Ray. "Every soul is..."

"Let her finish," said Egon, holding up his hand.

"So while I am human, my soul is still... connected? To the ghost realm. I apparently... I might have unfinished business either _there_... or here."

"That is my point," said Egon. "You somehow have a human body, but with a soul who has transcended the mortal plane. Your being, your soul, whatever you feel like calling it is now a ghost and there is still something you need to do. And because you fell into this universe instead of dying completely, you were never fully formed. Your soul is still in limbo."

Ray looked at Egon for a moment like he had gone nuts, but something snapped in his brain and he stood up quickly. He went over to a nearby whiteboard sitting off to the side.

"That would explain the PK energy," he said. He drew a little stick figure on the board. "The universe is still trying to turn Abby into a ghost. This is why there is so much energy surrounding her. It is trying to rectify the situation." He started drawing little squiggly lines all around the stick figure. He turned around, looking triumphant that he had figured out the problem.

"So it's not the Guardians trying to turn Abby into a ghost and getting her under their control?" asked Winston, looking contemplative.

"No," said Egon. "It's the Universe. It doesn't know how to deal with Abby because her energy signature is not ours. We all have the same energy signature here in this plane because we were all born with that identifying marker. She doesn't belong here, so I'd imagine it's a little perplexed. But the one thing it can recognize is that she is dead. Sorry Abby. And that is something it can do something about. Think of it like antibodies going after a virus or bacteria in our systems. It tries to kill it off to protect us. It then copies the code to our immune system so we'll never have a problem with that particular strain again."

"So the Universe is sending the PK energy to _kill_ Abby?" said Peter in disbelief.

"Exactly," said Ray.

"But how do the Guardians play into this?" asked Winston. "It seems like they're working against the universe."

"By sending the PK energy, it's... forcing me to take on another form," said Abby slowly. "One that they're afraid of instead of trying to force me to."

"They don't want Abby to become completely a ghost because of where she died," said Egon. "She didn't die in the human world. She died in their world."

"So what you're theorizing is that because she died there and instead of in our planes of existence, the manifestation of a ghost is different there?" asked Ray.

"You could argue that they're afraid that instead of becoming a ghost, she could become something new that they don't know how to deal with," said Egon. He nodded to Abby. "You're not from this universe. Nothing here knows exactly what to do with you. So they're probably wanting to get you out of here as soon as they can."

"So instead of forcing Abby to die again and completely become... whatever, they want to trap her there in the other side?" said Winston. "Now Egon, I've heard some strange things before in this place, but this is a stretch."

"Well, that would explain why they tried to take off with me today," said Abby, shaking her head.

"But back to my original question on the stairs," said Peter. "Abby is human. She has a body. _How_ would the ghost manifest itself?"

"Maybe too much psychokinetic energy can saturate the body and completely kill off human cell tissue," said Ray, his face scrunching up in thought. "Or maybe it could overtake her physiology altogether and be something wholly new, like Egon is suggesting."

"The Guardians probably would be very concerned about a human with ghost powers," said Peter. "That's like two worlds becoming one that should never become one."

"Can we talk about this without the possibility of me dying or becoming some sort of other entity?" asked Abby. "Because this is not a reality I'm wanting to face just yet."

"I'm sorry Abby, but this is most likely the next course of action," said Egon, looking apologetic. "Your ghost skill set is trying to manifest itself. You created a portal, you caused an AP-xH shift, and you have created a temperature drop over a very large part of the firehouse."

"You'd think freezing everything would have caused Abby damage," stated Winston. "But she's not frozen. Human tissue is very susceptible to frost, as all of us are very aware living in New York where there's no protection from the wind."

"That's very true," said Ray. "It did not hurt you." He looked at the board again for a moment.

"It could be that your body is already adapting rapidly to your new abilities. We don't know anything about this... white ectoplasm, or any of its effects."

"Which means the other world natives will be getting restless," said Peter. "Again."

"They're going to have to adapt their strategy," Ray said, grimacing. "They know we're helping Abby. And they know we will fight them. They also can't fight Abby out right. Because to do so will cause her skills to grow."

"But they did today," said Winston.

"Could it have been a distraction of sorts?" asked Ray. "What did they do to you again, Abby?"

"Tried to threaten me and hold me down, then tried to take off with me up in the air."

"Threaten you?"

"Telepathy," she stated. "One of them put their hand on my head."

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking Egon?" said Ray glumly.

"It would make sense," he said, shaking his head. "It would be a very credible threat and all they would have to do is gleam knowledge off of her to locate-"

"What would be a credible threat?" asked Abby, her voice rising. They both turned and looked at her. She had been almost afraid to ask, and their faces made it even worse.

"You don't have much here for them to... make you risk your life for," said Egon. "But there is one thing that might make you."

"And that would be...?"

"You."

Abby's heart stopped.

 _No. They didn't mean..._

"I'm so sorry, Abby," Ray said quietly.

Panic filled her veins. There was no way, they couldn't. They wouldn't...

"I've got to get to Michigan." She stood up and grabbed the proton glove.

"Abby, stop please," said Ray. "Please be rational about this." He got in front of her and tried to grab for her shoulders, but gasped when she phased right through him and headed for the other side of the firehouse. He hit his knees.

"That was cold!" he said, shivering. The others didn't even try to stop her. They literally couldn't if she kept phasing through matter.

"This is not good," said Egon. "Being over emotional in her state..."

"She's in a state of flux, Spengler," said Peter. "Nothing you can say right now is going to stop her."

Winston helped Ray back up as Abby came back out, her suit and proton pack on.

"Abby," said Egon, getting between her and the stairs.

"I'm going Egon," she said forcefully. "I cannot let them get to her."

"We don't know that is what they will do," said Ray. "They could just keep attacking you."

"I'm not taking the chance," said Abby firmly. "I'm the problem in this universe, not her. It's not fair if she's hurt or attacked just because I... I've made mistakes." She put up a hand to Egon, whose eyes widened. She turned slightly, as did he. He scrambled backwards and fell to the floor.

"Egon," said Winston. Abby started down the stairs, not looking back. "You okay?" He helped his friend up off the floor.

"She used fear inducement," he said. "Not intentionally, I think. Or maybe intentionally. She just wanted me out of the way."

"How do you know that?"

"Because that's how I felt," said Egon. "Low grade telepathy perhaps?"

"We've got to go after her," said Ray, heading for the stairs.

"And we will," said Peter, grabbing a hold of his uniform collar. "But you're forgetting one thing."

"What is that?" Ray asked, feeling annoyed at Peter, who looked sideways at his friend.

"She's still human with a very broken wrist, several broken ribs, and carrying a proton pack which weighs about probably about 30-40 pounds. She's not going to make it very far without some sort of help. And probably financial assistance. I kind of doubt she has enough money for a long distance bus ticket with the way fares keep going up these days."


	14. Follow You Down

Abby knew it'd be over 10 hours to get between New York and Rochester. At least being in Manhattan meant that she had plenty of means to travel. There was a bus stop right across the street from the firehouse, but she needed to walk this off and she also knew they'd follow her if she just went across the street. She had stupidly grabbed Ray's jacket and her bag. She hadn't meant to grab anything from the team. And she was pretty sure she had jammed her wrist somehow as she had slammed her arm through both her jumpsuit and the jacket because she was upset. But she made it to Franklin Street and started over to the subway. All she had to do was find a Greyhound station and buy a ticket. That shouldn't be too hard. She vaguely remembered there was one near Times Square. So roughly 12 hours on a bus if there wasn't too many stops. She could be there by lunch. Abby started to head down and instantly regretted it. Her stomach was already lurching as she made it to the bottom. She should be resting, not making a fairly lengthy journey to another state. Every part of her abdomen ached because of her ribs. She sat down on a wooden bench, clutching at one of the padded straps of the proton pack. One of the things about being a New Yorker is that most of the time, no one ever gave a second thought as to what was going on around them. The three people already waiting on the train didn't even bother noticing her.

Now she was really, really wishing she hadn't jumped down out of the Guardians' grip. She was also still shaking from the things she had done in the firehouse. She had scared Egon into backing away from her. She didn't know how, but she knew she had. She knew ghosts had the ability to instill fear, but she didn't realize it was an actual skill _she_ could have.

It was a little disconcerting to be able to do that sort of thing.

And she had WALKED right though Ray.

They were right. She was transforming right before their eyes. She took out her newly fixed PKE meter and turned it on. It started spinning rapidly. While it made her feelings worse, the noise was comforting. It reminded her so much of the others. She wearily thought of home. Abby hoped the others were still continuing to hunt for ghosts. Maybe by now they had gotten closure and had moved on.

Fuck closure. That reminded her too much of Sam, one of her exes. She sighed.

Was it so _wrong_ that she hoped her friends thought of her once in awhile? She missed them. The only thing she had of them were the pictures on her phone and the texts they had made back and forth. Which was mostly Holtz being punny and her normally ridiculous self, but the others had been slowly coming around to doing the fun ones. Although she had been avoiding looking at the irritated ones that she had sent Erin when they were looking for her to come help deal with Rowan after she had left them.

She really, really missed Erin. It had been a brief amount of time that they had gotten to spend together, but now it was going to have to last her forever. She'd never get to grow old with her best friend.

She didn't even have to look up to know the others were there. Two of them at least.

"I'm going to Michigan," she said firmly, glancing up.

"We're aware," said Ray, crossing his arms.

"I'll take care of this," she said tiredly. "You've done enough for me."

"Mmhmm," said Egon. "Go on and tell us your master plan of how you're going to stop the Guardians from doing anything to your younger self."

Abby stopped short of telling Egon to go to hell, because really, she had no master plan. She was just going to charge head on with her proton glove and her lone idea.

"Doesn't matter," she said. "I'm going and you guys are staying here to protect the city."

"Uh, no," said Ray. "And let me tell you why." He sat down beside Abby.

"You don't have to give me the scientific spiel," said Abby. "I get it. The Guardians being present in this universe and on top of that, well, me being me..."

Ray shook his head. "No, you don't." Egon agreed.

"We're not going to let a friend walk into a line of fire without backup," said Egon.

"Besides, Rochester isn't that far of a drive," said Ray. "We can go and be back in a day."

"A day, right," said Abby. "It's a ten hour drive."

"We'd better get started," said Egon. "The Ecto-1 is waiting outside." He offered a hand to Abby. She sighed and took it. Ray offered to take her proton pack off her shoulders. She looked warily at him for that.

"It's going to be a long ride with that thing," he said. She sighed and helped him shrug it off her arms. She followed Egon and Ray up the stairs, where Peter was waiting.

"I think it's about time m'lady, that you actually got to ride in her instead of crashing on top," he said, opening the door to the back. Egon headed to the back hatch to put Abby's proton pack up after taking it from Ray. Abby got into the back with a thank you to Peter. Ray started to head to the front, but Peter stopped him.

"We're going to take turns. Winston's taking the first shift." Peter started walking to the front of the vehicle with a whistle and Ray climbed in the back beside Abby.

"Egon, grab the snacks, would you?" said Peter. "I could go for a Cheeto."

"I need a Twinkie," said Winston.

Egon started passing around the junk food they had brought as Winston pulled out into the city streets. It was getting dark since the sun had already went down. The snow and slush had already turned to water, making the drive a little slick. Abby had to again hold her side while riding on the bumpy city streets. She shook her head when Egon offered her something to eat, her stomach still in knots at the idea that her younger self could be in danger. Instead, she fell asleep with her forehead against the window about fifteen minutes into the drive. When Winston made a turn onto a street so he could get to the freeway, she too turned and fell against Ray's shoulder. Apparently this was not a bad position as she scooted closer. Egon laughed from the seat across the way at Ray freezing up at the action.

"You must be comfortable."

"Who wouldn't want to take a nap on Ray?" said Peter, looking in the rear view mirror. "He's a big cuddly teddy bear."

"Shut up Pete." Ray tried to force away the small blush on his cheeks, which he hoped no one could see in the dark.


	15. Ordinary World

Abby slept on for a couple of more hours, leaving the men in quiet.

It wasn't until they stopped for coffee and to change drivers that Egon suggested waking Abby. Ray shook his head.

"I'd hate to disturb her. It's not like she's has gotten much rest today."

Egon nodded, but smirked at his long time friend.

"I'm starting to think that what Peter tried to get you to admit the other day is true."

"Would it be so wrong?" asked Ray quietly.

"She's never going to be able to stay here, unless there is some sort of divine intervention," said Egon.

"I know," Ray said quietly. He stared at the top of Abby's messy bun.

"At least I can let her have a moment's peace."

"Want a cup of coffee?" asked Egon.

"I'm good, thanks," said Ray. "I could use some dinner though. We stopping for food?"

"Soon I hope. Have I ever said how much I despise road trips?"

"Not minding this one so much," said Ray. Egon shook his head and smiled.

"It's not everyday you get a physicist and fellow paranormal investigator falling asleep on you while wearing your leather jacket."

Abby felt the car come to a stop. Her head was sideways at a strange angle, but for some reason, she didn't feel uncomfortable. She did however have a headache. She grimaced as she opened her eyes. It was dark, except for the bright lights of a fast food restaurant they were parked next to. It made her wince to look at all the neon. She had forgotten how annoying the decor of Taco Bell used to be.

"Have a good nap?"

"I… think so?" said Abby. It was the strangest feeling, waking up in a car. She started to sit up, and it didn't take her long to realize that the reason she felt so comfortable was that she had fallen asleep on Ray.

"Oh geez," she said. She heard Egon laugh softly.

"I'm sorry Ray. I didn't mean to–"

"No apologies necessary. You were tired."

"No kiddin'," yawned Abby.

"Tacos anyone?" said Peter.

"I'm starved," said Winston. "I could eat about a dozen beef tacos."

"Six for me," said Egon. "Chicken, extra cheese."

"I think I'm with Winston," said Ray. "A dozen beef would be great."

"Abby?" Abby was mentally balking at their orders. How could they eat so much?

"Just three please? I'll go with Egon on the chicken."

"30 tacos it is," said Peter. "Hey Ray, there's a gas station across the street. You want to go grab some drinks? And get a chocolate bar for Egon. He's getting restless."

"On it," he said, opening the side door and hopping out.

"How are you feeling?" asked Egon to Abby.

"Sore," she said. "I just need to get to Rochester and I'll feel better."

"If that's still where you live," he said in response. "This is a different universe."

"It's the only lead I've got," said Abby. "If Mom and Dad don't live there– then I don't know. Maybe they went ahead and moved to Battle Creek earlier. She could have lost her job sooner."

 _And maybe I could meet Erin earlier_ , thought Abby.

"It's something we can check out," said Egon. "How far is it between the two?"

"About two hours and thirty minutes… roundabout," said Abby.

"A walk down memory lane," said Winston.

Abby hadn't thought about it, but really, she guessed it was.

"And they say you can never go home again," she stated, rubbing her neck.

"Technically it's not _your_ home," said Egon.

Abby nodded, not saying anything. She couldn't help but wonder what was different about her in this universe. She wondered if maybe little Abby didn't need glasses. That would have been nice. What if little Abby didn't like science at all? What if she was more like Patty and into history?

Or worse, English.

She shuddered at that. Maybe little Abby would be just like her. There needed to be more women in the science fields anyways.

"My levels still climbing?" she asked Egon. When he didn't say anything, she knew the answer.

"You haven't exhibited any skills while you were asleep, so that is something, if it helps."

"It doesn't, but thanks for the trying."

"Once we get back to New York, maybe we can siphon off some of the energy. I'm sure we can find a way to dissipate it that doesn't involved draining you of energy like…"

"Like you would a ghost to capture it," said Abby. She gave Egon a curious look.

"Do you have a plan?"

"If we could funnel the energy off somehow," said Egon. "We could theoretically just hit it with a really soft proton stream. Sort of like giving blood, but a little less invasive."

"You'd almost need some sort of containment unit," said Abby. "For…"

"Don't even think that," said Ray, getting back into the Ecto-1 with a plastic bag of soft drinks. "Containment units are _not_ for people."

"She's not speaking permanently," said Egon. "We're thinking of temporary solutions. But that is a good thought. I may have to sit down and do some calculations once we get settled in at our destination."

"Sort of like a suntan booth?" said Winston. He was leaning back to take a drink from Ray. "You go in and get hit with rays, then you come out a little less energy saturated."

"That's… brilliant Winston," said Ray. "But we'd have to figure out something that wasn't radioactive."

"Something safe for a human that would get rid of PK energy," agreed Egon.

"Some of Peter's jokes?" said Abby, taking out her sling from her bag. She slipped it on, filling a little relief from the ache in her forearm.

"If only," smirked Ray. "But I think they'd probably only make things worse."

—–

They switched out drivers again, this time Ray taking the helm after getting gas. Egon swapped places with Winston. He had wanted to speak to Abby semi-privately anyways. Winston had closed his eyes in the lone seat for a few minutes and was snoring.

"So what are you going to do?" he asked. "Once we find her."

"You will protect her if they try anything," said Abby. "But I have a plan for the Guardians to take me, which I will do alone."

Egon seemed very surprised by that. Abby shrugged.

"It's the only way."

Egon bit his lip, as if he meant to say something. But instead, he gave a short nod.

"It's the only way to achieve balance as much as I am loathed to say it."

Abby hated to lie to Egon, but knew it was the only way to achieve what she wanted. She really hated she had lied to him twice. Well, not lied. More like lead him astray. She looked out the window at the rolling hills of Michigan.

It wouldn't be much longer.


	16. Long Way to Ruin

Abby was almost relieved to see that Rochester hadn't changed in this universe. At least she could still navigate her way around. She pointed out a good diner to the boys, hoping it would distract them since it was early morning and she knew fresh coffee would be appreciated. She had been hoping that her headache would have gone away with the Coke that Ray had brought back, but even with the nap she had taken, it was still bothering her. She was fairly certain it was her soul trying to separate from her body with the high amount of PK energy still trying to turn her into a ghost, but she wasn't going to let that happen just yet. Right now she knew her younger self was probably having breakfast with her dad before school. Her mom was up and gone already to work by this point. She had always loved that her dad had stayed at home with her. He had been a good barrier between her and her mom, who had expected nothing but the best from her, even when she didn't feel like the best.

She hesitated for a moment. She didn't want to leave the others behind, but she really wanted to get this done. It was a cool and crisp day. The sky was so blue with no clouds to be seen. She grabbed her newly re-calibrated proton glove and carefully pulled her pack out of the back of the vehicle so the others wouldn't see from the diner windows.

She then started walking. 

* * *

The house looked almost exactly the same. It was a little eerie. At least the door was painted red instead of white. That was something different at least.

Another thing that was different was the four Guardians floating over the roof of the house. It was like they were waiting.

And they were. They were waiting on _her_. She had hoped Ray and Egon hadn't been right and they would leave her other universe self alone. She pulled the proton thrower out from the pack and charged it up. She shot at one of the Guardians, relishing in the fact that they were drawing closer to her, leaving the house alone.

"I don't think so," she said, sidestepping one of them. She took off for the one place she knew would get them the furthermost away from her younger counterpart, and it was the place she felt most comfortable.

And into the woods Abby went. She didn't even pause when she heard the sound of a familiar siren of the Ecto-1. She had to get away before the others got close. She didn't want them to think badly of her for what she was about to do. She hoped they would stay put and protect her dad and herself should a problem arise. She really hoped there wouldn't be anymore giant snowmen or other like creatures. But the Guardians followed her like she knew they would. She was the real threat here.

Abby could have sworn she heard yelling as she ran hard. She hoped it was the others telling her dad and herself to get away. She put on her proton glove, hoping the calculations and the changes she had made to the device worked. She hadn't had much of a chance for a field test. She hoped it pulled the PKE like it should.

"You want me? Fine," she said, breathing hard as she came to a clearing and turning around. "I don't want to die. So how about we reach a compromise?"

" _You do not get to choose_ ," she heard inside her mind. So they had developed a permanent telepathic link when they touched her. Great.

"Oh yeah?" she said loudly. "Watch me." She held an arm up to the air and punched. Hard. Light surged all around the woods. Abby wouldn't be surprised if half the city didn't get woken up by the blast. She definitely created a shift of some sort. A portal was starting to open and the wind was starting to pick up. The purple and white was gorgeous to her eyes as it crackled into existence.

It was bigger than she expected, and it filled her with dread and joy at the same time.

"Oh now you're not happy are you?" smirked Abby. "I just opened your little ghost prison. Because that's all it is, just a place to put the souls of those deceased. And you don't like it when they escape." She smiled when a couple slipped through, flying off. It didn't take long for more to follow. She moved closer to it, eyeing the Guardians as they stood on guard. "You know, Erin and I used to believe that we needed to protect the barrier, but how about I breach it instead?"

There was complete silence from the Guardians, and that annoyed her more than anything. She raised her arm to the portal to punch at it.

"NO!" yelled a voice, and Abby saw Ray rush forward and try to grab a hold of her good arm.

"You're supposed to be protecting her!" she yelled back, moving Ray of the way of the Guardians, who took that moment of distraction to swoop in on the portal and close it. She tried to push away from Ray, but he kept a grip on her forearm.

"I can't if you're making breaches into the other realm! Abby you don't know–"

"I'm doing what I need to do," said Abby firmly. The Guardians had circled around them.

"Abby, they're going to–"

Ray didn't even get to finish his sentence as they surrounded Abby, forcing him backwards. He could only watch as one of the Guardians pointed at her and then back at the still open portal.

" _You will close this human_."

"And what if I won't?" she said, her temper still high. "What if I keep making them instead?" She held her glove covered hand out like she was going to punch at them.

" _Then state what it is you require,_ " said the voice inside her mind. She looked at Ray before looking at the Guardians. She closed her eyes and concentrated. She didn't want him to hear this.

" _To go home. To be free. To get away from all this utter nonsense_." She paused and took a deep breath. " _To live MY life again_."

" _You cannot_ ," the voice said. " _You will never be apart of that world again_."

Those words made her shake in fear, but she firmed her resolve, staring defiant at the Guardians. It was that thought that gave her an idea. " _Then let me save myself_."

Ray stared at the scene, wondering what was going on. Abby was standing in the middle of the Guardians and going toe to toe with them. At least, he thought so. She wasn't backing down, and neither did they. Finally, Abby nodded. And she put away the proton glove and pulled out the proton wand from her pack. She stood in silence and closed the portal, much to Ray's relief. He heard Peter run up behind him.

"Winston and Egon are–"

But Abby turned and looked at them both. She looked sad for a moment, and Ray felt for a brief second a blast of cold. It didn't take long for all five figures to disappear. Peter threw his arm quickly around Ray's shoulders before he could bolt towards where they had been.

"She did what she had to do Ray."

Ray grabbed his friend's arm and held onto him for a moment. He then turned and shook his head after Venkman let go. They both started walking back towards the Ecto-1. An older, blonde haired man was standing next to Egon. A familiar face to them stood beside her father, looking enraptured at the four men and their vehicle.

"You're really THE Ghostbusters?" she said in awe. Even as a pre-teen, Abby looked very much like her older counterpart, even down to the black rimmed glasses.

"Sure are kid," said Winston. "This is Ray Stantz and Peter Venkman."

"Pleased to meet you," said the dark haired little girl with a nod. "I'm Abby. Abby Yates." She looked up to the roof.

"So there were four Class III vapors floating around the house?" Ray looked at Egon questioningly, who shrugged.

"There definitely were," said Ray with a sad smile. "But we took care of them."

"Awesome!" said Abby. "Dad, I can't wait to tell Mom. That light show was amazing!"

"How did the Ghostbusters end up in Michigan?" asked Abby's dad. "Long way from home."

"That– is a long story," said Peter, patting the man on the shoulder. "Can we talk about payment for these… Class III ghosts?"


	17. Hello My Old Heart

The next thing Abby knew was that she was being thrown across a tiled floor. Or rather, she slid.

"Ow geez," she said to the air. She looked up and saw a Guardian standing over her. She looked to be in some sort of hospital room as she got up off the floor, dusting off. One more advanced than any she had ever seen before. But it felt… odd. Like she was just a second ahead or behind in time. Everything was muted and blurred.

" _You are not the first human being to have died in the our realm_ ," the Guardian said. " _There were those for whom the barrier between the two worlds did not used to be strict_."

"I'm just the first to threaten you," said Abby, looking at the Guardian, even though she could see nothing through the black hood.

" _No_ ," it said simply. " _You are however, the first to be credible threat. You can do things the others could not._ "

"So where are we?" asked Abby.

" _A test_ ," it said. " _You will begin to understand_." The Guardian waved a hand and Abby blinked. She was in the same hospital room, and it definitely seemed much more advanced than anything she had ever seen.

It was that moment Abby realized she was in the _future_.

 _Just what exactly were the Guardians doing?_

She looked closer at the bed, and her heart stopped. Though the hair was silver and white, it didn't take her long to recognize the person lying there.

"Ab-by?" said a voice from the bed. It sounded like it hadn't been used in a while.

"Holtz," Abby said, almost crying. She wanted to rush over to hug her friend, but she looked so frail.

"I can't believe they sent you of all people to come," said Jillian. "You haven't aged a day." Abby moved closer to the bed. She bent down carefully so they could see each other better. Her friend had aged a good deal. Abby couldn't even imagine how old she was. Middle to late 90's maybe.

"Time has been kind to you," she said, putting a hand to Holtz's face. Her wicked smile came back, just like she remembered back in the days of their lab at Higgins. Abby always knew when she saw it that Holtz was delighted with what was going on.

"After everything that happened in my younger years, you'd think I would have been the first to go instead of you."

"Oh Holtz…" said Abby. Jillian had tears in her eyes and Abby stroked her hair.

"I know it's time," she said softly. "I'm so glad it's you. I missed you Abs. We were never the same without you. I know you watched over us, but we never found you. We kept trying Abby, but–"

"Shh, it's okay," she said softly to her friend. "You don't–"

"I'm ready to go Abs," said Jillian. "I can't wait to be with everyone again." Abby didn't know what to say, since she technically wasn't dead and she wouldn't be with them on the other side. One of the monitors in the room started blaring, and Abby could see Holtzmann was in pain. A nurse came bursting into the room, followed by two more. They turned on the light in the darkened room and started carefully working on Holtz to revive her. Abby held onto Jillian's hand, afraid they'd tell her to move away from the bed. She gasped when one reached right through her.

" _They can't see me_ ," thought Abby. " _I… I am a ghost_." She leaned down and kissed Jillian's forehead. Her friend smiled and Abby could see that her facial wrinkles were easing and her eyes were beginning to close. The tears were beginning to fall from Abby's own eyes by the time her eyelids had closed around precious blue eyes. It was then she was beginning to understand what the Guardian had meant. She was helping her friend move on to the next world.

 _Their world._

Her fist clenched in anger. She felt something around her shift and she was suddenly faced with all four of the Guardians.

"You couldn't face me with just one of you after that, could you?" she said testily.

" _We are all in one_ ," they said simply. " _No matter the time, place, or universe_."

"Did I pass your test?" she said, her anger rising. "You just made me watch one of my best friends in the world die!" None of the Guardians were moved by her words or emotions. In fact, one of them laid a hand on her shoulder.

" _She is at peace now. You were her unfinished business_. _If you had not appeared, she would have been stuck in this existence. Restless, forever_."

Abby didn't say anything, but her anger was still in full force. She knew they were right. It would be so like Holtzmann to cling to the idea that she still needed to save her.

" _Despite your hatred of us, we are not your enemy_ ," said the Guardians.

"You tried to kidnap me, and I'm fairly certain you would have killed me to prevent me from turning into a ghost myself for some reasons I cannot understand."

" _You are– unique_ ," they said. " _Your transformation is… unusual_."

"How unusual?" said Abby.

" _You took your body with you. That is not natural_. "

"I fell into another universe. I fail to see how anything is natural."

" _That is part of the unusual._ "

Abby's headache was back.

"Can we go now?"

" _You are still changing_ ," they stated.

"Tell me something I don't know."

" _There is not enough time in the entirety of existence for that_."

Abby groaned and held a hand to her temples.

"I suppose sarcasm is not a Guardian thing."

They didn't respond, so she could only assume that was a yes. One of them gestured to the door of the hospital room, which had returned to the out of time feeling as before. She headed towards it and pulled on the handle, stepping out the door.

What she hadn't been expecting was to be stepping out of an ambulance and onto a New York street with a very familiar scene was playing out in front of her.


	18. Times Like These

A quick jostle as she got out on the street made her realize that yes, she still had broken ribs and a cast. She hadn't completely arrived in the past and become a part of it. As much as she wanted it, she knew the Guardians weren't going to make it that _easy_ for her. She had to come up with a backup plan just in case they interfered. She saw the others standing in a line in front of the Mercado, which was swirling in the sky above them. She had almost forgotten how red the portal was after they had sent the Ecto-1 flying into it. But there they were, standing ready for battle with proton wands in hand. She almost wanted to start crying at the concentrated faces of her friends. They were bound and determined to get rid of Rowan. Her heart was pounding in her chest to send her feet to go join them. She just wanted to bury herself in Erin's arms. Even though it had only been just a handful of days, she ached just to hold her hands and tell her how _weird_ the past few days had been.

Though that would mean Holtzmann would be absolutely freaking delighted at the fact that she had gotten herself turned into a ghost and her and Erin probably would put her on lock down in their makeshift lab at the Chinese restaurant till they had figured this thing out. It was a bit funny really, at how the two situations were almost parallel. While she missed her friends and wanted to be fighting by their side, she thought of the others and how she would miss them. She valued Egon's friendship and advice. He was always open and honest with her. Winston was steadfast and radiated warmth and generosity. He was also funny as hell when he wanted to be. Peter, while arrogant and cocky, had a lovable quirk to him. He had saved her from herself, even if she had punched his face.

And Ray… she could never find a person who was more truthful to who he was. He took everything with the joy and wonder of a child on Christmas morning.

 _But…_

At least here she would be with her friends, her team. Though if she was going to do what she wanted, she had to move and _quickly_. She was going to take past Abby's place at pushing Patty while her past self went through the portal, as much as the thought hurt that she was condemning her past self to go through what she had. She started running towards the Mercado, or rather, what was left of it. She had a thought during the first few steps and it felt like the world had slowed down to a crawl.

She had lied to Ray. She had lied to Egon. She had even lied to the _Guardians_. She had never planned to save her past self when she had told them that standing in front of the portal in Michigan. She was going to push Patty out of the way and let past Abby be taken by Rowan. If she didn't, then she would cease to exist completely.

It struck her that the Guardians would know that. It was in that quick moment she realized, that _this_ was the actual test.

She had asked to be saved, to live _her_ own life. Something wholly new.

She knew she was no longer this world's Abby. That belonged to the person just a few feet from her.

 _Her life, her own life._ The words reverberated in her mind. To live another life…

The chance to do so was right there in front of her.

Huh, she really was going to be Schrödinger's cat after all. The thought amused her as the world sped up again and Abby kept running. Rowan was just now beginning to fall. She heard the screech of metal as he kicked the fire truck and knew this was her chance. A familiar "Look out!" came from her own lips. It had been the last thing she had said before she had been captured by Rowan.

But she was not going to let it happen. That Abby had gone through enough with Rowan's possession and Erin leaving them behind. She, the Abby Yates who had fallen through dimensions, had an opportunity to change things and she was going to take it.

And take it she did. Abby pushed on her past self so hard with both her hands, sending both Patty and herself flying. She was fairly certain she heard (and felt) the bones in her wrist re-snap. Or maybe even more had broken, she didn't know at this point. But it didn't matter. She had done it. Rowan's hand closed around her body again. She felt the portal sucking him in and she laughed. She was safe. The Abby Yates of this universe was utterly and totally _safe_. All four of them would save the city. They would still be together as friends. Hell, as _family_. Maybe even she and Erin could revise their book and add their new adventures and discoveries to it.

Things would be okay. She closed her eyes, feeling grateful. 

* * *

When she opened them again, she sighed.

The tunnel was way greener than she remembered.

But she was _happy_. Little Abby was safe in the other universe. She had been saved in her own universe. Despite what all the time traveling shows and theories had told her over all her years, she hadn't just ceased to exist. She was still falling and headed for a second death. Or was it a third? Damn if she could remember at this point.

Upon hearing the splash and the sound of Rowan submerging in the white ectoplasm, she closed her eyes again. Maybe this time she would dissolve and pass on like the bastard holding her would. She was just a ghost after all. She clutched at her shoulders, laughing softly. She was still wearing Ray's jacket. She smiled a little.


	19. Living in a Dream

Epilogue (Part I): 

* * *

It had been a _hell_ of week.

Erin had been glad when everything was said and done. There had been so many meetings and so many questions about what had happened. The mayor offered them a job with the city, researching the subject (ghosts) and being there to help prevent the next apocalypse from happening. They even had a phone conference with the _President_ of all things. It had been a wild ride. And Abby of all people, should have been enjoying the hell out of it. But she wasn't. She seemed preoccupied most of the time with something that had taken place right there in front of the Mercado and wasn't letting go of it despite all three voices of her friends telling her to.

Erin let herself into Abby's apartment. Holtz had a key just in case of emergencies and let Erin borrow it to go check on her. While this was not an emergency, it was… concerning. She hadn't seen her friend in a couple of days and wasn't answering calls or texts. Erin entered the space and found Abby sitting in front of three computer screens on a makeshift desk. She knew what it was without having to look to see what she was doing. Abby had been playing the footage from all the various cameras from around the Mercado. She had sworn up and down that she had felt like she had been pushed herself when she had pushed Patty out of the way. The both of them had went rolling and had gotten away from Rowan, who had made at last ditch effort of getting revenge on the Ghostbusters. Erin and Jillian had privately conferred that they thought that they had seen something in Rowan's hand, but they surmised that Rowan had just thought he had gotten Abby and had simply closed his hand around empty air.

"Abby…" Erin said with a sigh. "You can't keep obsessing over this." Her best friend didn't even look up from the screen at someone being in her apartment.

"I'm not obsessed," complained Abby. But Erin would beg to differ by the take out containers sitting around the desk.

"I still say you tripped over some debris from the Mercado," said Erin, crossing her arms.

"I didn't trip," said Abby, frowning. "There was someone else there. There could be an innocent life who went down for us Erin. Shouldn't they be worth remembering?"

Erin sighed. She was getting nowhere. _Again_. She decided to press on anyways.

"Any luck?"

Abby shook her head.

"Footage is all a blur. Whoever it was came out from where the police cars and the ambulance were sitting in front of the overturned fire truck. This is the closest thing I've gotten to a shot of them," said Abby. She handed Erin a screenshot photo she had printed out. It was blurry, but there was still a definite shape to the person.

An awfully familiar shape at that. Erin held up the picture like she was inspecting it in the light, but in reality, she already knew who it was. She knew her best friend quite well, even in all the crazy blurry and dark traffic camera footage screenshot. She had walked side by side to those shoulders for six years.

And that was definitely the form of Abby Yates, messy bun and all.

Erin bit her lip. Did she _dare_ even try to tell Abby this? That it was possible that her best friend had _time traveled_ and saved herself from dying?

She decided that this was a concept she was not going to explore with Abby. Holtzmann having anything to do with time travel was too dangerous. Not to mention Abby and Holtzmann working together on that?

The world, no the universe, was better off without it.

Erin shrugged and handed her back the photo.

"I really can't tell anything about it."

Abby sighed. "Neither can I. It's too dark." She laid it down. Erin put her hand on her best friend's shoulder, who stared at her fingers like they were something new and foreign.

"Either way Abby, you shouldn't be cooped up in here like this," said Erin. "You need to be living, enjoying life. We just saved the city! They're actually paying us! I just checked my bank account this morning. They sent the first checks yesterday. And as your best friend, I'm taking you out for real Thai food."

"Maybe you're right," said Abby, sighing. "They– whoever it was– wanted us to continue our work."

"Exactly," said Erin. She offered a hand to Abby to get her on her feet.

"And to work, we need food. And alcohol to celebrate our new positions as the city's Ghostbusters. Holtzmann and Patty are meeting us for dinner." Erin smiled at her friend, who gave her a first real smile she had seen from the brunette in days. They had all cried in relief together those first few moments after everything was over and everyone was safe.

And now they had a future in front of them, and the future was bright.


	20. Falls on Me

Abby felt her lungs fill back up with air and she started coughing. Coughing meant lungs, which meant she… was back in her body again? This didn't make sense. She continued to cough, trying to breath in deep, but not accomplishing much. Stupid ribs. She felt really strange in her body, like something was out of sorts.

She opened her eyes and realized she was falling.

Again.

 _Really? Just…really?_

Not that she wasn't grateful to be alive, but she should have moved on to the afterlife this time. _Did all of creation just like her that much that it wanted her to stick around for a while?_

She caught a glimpse of the Guardians for a brief moment and wasn't sure what to think. She felt gravity take effect and again she was falling at a faster rate of speed. She yelped when she saw a roof, but she phased right through it. She was still yelling when she fell right on top of a stack of mattresses.

Well, at least it was a softer landing this time.

She heard voices and realized she was surrounded and should probably move. She was now certain Rowan's grip had been harder this time around, and her ribs were smarting something fierce as she tried to get up. She was really, really tired of being injured.

When she looked down and saw the confused faces of four of the male Ghostbusters in their uniforms and proton packs (plus the tiny bit of joy in the pit of her stomach when she saw Ray's features light up like a Christmas tree), she smirked.

"Miss me?"

And promptly passed out.

"At least it was not the Ecto-1 this time," said Winston. He was grinning at Ray's face.

"And again, right in the middle of business," sighed Peter, shaking his head and sighing. Egon held up his PKE meter.

"Her levels are still really high, but they are steady, surprisingly."

"Abby," said Ray, putting his feet between the bottom two mattresses and pulling himself up enough to shake her shoulder. "Abby!"

"Five more minutes Holtz, and I swear I'll get up and order something," she mumbled.

"Holtz?" asked Winston.

"One of her co-workers," said Egon. "Short for Holtzmann."

"What do you think happened?" asked Ray, jumping back down. "Why is she back _here_ ?"

Egon clapped his shoulder. "You'll just have to ask her when she wakes up."

"And it looks like you're going to be here a while." Peter gave Ray a tease by messing up his hair. "We'll be off chasing ghosts. Have fun waiting on Sleeping Beauty."

"I'll remember that you two," said Ray, shaking a finger at his dear friends. Egon didn't seem to mind as he pulled the proton wand back off his pack. Winston joined him in walking off. Peter gave him a salute and went in another direction and gestured to the Rookie to follow. Bryan gave Ray a thumbs up before walking away with Venkman.

"But maybe I don't mind so much," he said. It wasn't every day when damsels fell from the sky.


End file.
